I was commissioned by a local temple to build them a new Ark in which to keep the Torah scrolls. They had a number of existing items of furniture which they asked whether I could use to save on time and/or materials. Of course it is never quite that easy. As it happened one item did inspire the whole design. It was an A frame shelving unit where the front profile was a pronounced isosceles triangle. The Star of David is comprised of two reversed triangles so this became the base theme for the project.

I should also mention that they wished the Ark to be able to be easily assembled and taken apart frequently. Based on the A frame idea I used this to create a substructure that folded like a ladder. The front and rear were built like face frames and could easily be removed with just a screwdriver. The picture with the doors open shows how one would access the screws in the frame.

The whole project was made from solid walnut with walnut ply for the large panels. You can see the Star of David symbol which holds the everlasting light reflects the same triangular profile. The finish was a Poly, Oil and Wax combination, that creates a beautiful and tactile surface.

It was a fun project and the congregation loved the end result which is the whole point of the exercise. 

Launch Gallery