During my 3rd year at university our furniture design project was to design a trolley. The goal was to look at an uncommon piece of furniture in a home and to design a piece that was synonymous with technology at the time.

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At the time we were just introduced to a new product called Velcromat which was popularly used with the CNC machine, and although I didn't use this product for this piece I found a love for the technology.

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At that period I was fascinated with nature and bio-mimicry, and with a love for working with wood and my new found friend the CNC machine, I decided to merge it all together. I looked at roots and the function of roots which is to transport food from one place to another. I also looked at the mobility of the trolley, and came up with word play between "Roots" and "Routes". 

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I took the roots pattern and created an angular abstract version of it. The trolley itself was square and angular, shifting more to the contemporary and minimalist design style. Looking at how bottles were transported, usually in crates with dividers as to not break any bottles, I decided to take the root pattern and create a removable tray to separate the bottles when being transported. The top and bottom shelf was designed to accommodate the trays, while the middle shelf was designed as extra storage space and to create an asymmetrical silhouette. 

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Pleased with the outcome, Routes went on to be exhibited at the Design Indaba the following year. It was also displayed in a decorator’s showroom in Gardens as a unique local design.