Innovation is always hot at the International Contemporary Furniture Fair held each spring in New York. But it's usually innovation with sales in mind.

Not for Jeff Cole, architect, Sheraden native and Carnegie Mellon University graduate. He was asked to design a piece of furniture by Interlam Inc., which produces computer numerically controlled milled surfaces that are most often used in lobbies and high-end commercial spaces.

Mr. Cole, who has lived and worked in New York City for nearly 20 years, said the task wasn't unusual, just the material.

"All the great architects designed furniture. I mean, I've always designed furniture," he said.

While Mr. Cole's eponymous firm mostly designs lofts and new residential buildings in the five boroughs, he gets many requests for custom furniture.

"Interlam wanted me to design a piece of furniture not to be produced but just to demonstrate an alternative use for the product," he said.

The material, often scribed with patterns such as waves, swirls and weaves, is a favorite of the interior design and architecture community. But the furniture industry has yet to be charmed.

"Interlam makes large panels that are three-dimensional," Mr. Cole said. "They have computer programs that carve the patterns into materials from solid wood to glass. So you have the richness of the material and the surface texture for interest."

He decided to design a sideboard with three surfaces for the ICFF.

"For the bottom shelf, we took 1¹/₄-inch clear acrylic and had an oval pattern milled into it. Then we sandblasted the pattern. That gave a nice texture."

As a result, the ovals seem to be floating in the clear acrylic. The piece's drop front doors were made of solid walnut, which was milled by Interlam in a wave pattern. And the white box was made of high-density fiberboard with a smooth surface outside, patterned inside.

So what was the verdict? Will you soon be buying a dining room set designed by Mr. Cole for Interlam?

Not likely.

"I told them there is a valuable lesson we all learned here. And that is this stuff does not lend itself to furniture design," he said.

The problem was that the panels, in the dimensions commonly used for cabinetry, too often warped. Although HDF is highly stable, it warped badly after it was milled, as did the walnut.

"We had a hard time with it. The doors warped so badly we had to remove the plywood backing and glue a second walnut door on the back side."

Mr. Cole said he continues to use large panels from Interlam for lobbies, but he wouldn't try to make furniture with it again.

"Their core market has always been screens and walls. I think they were overreaching themselves in trying to do furniture," he said.

Jeff Cole's Web site is www.jeffreycolearchitects.com. Interlam's site is www.interlam-design.com.

Kurt Weber, Post-Gazette photos A detail of the doors on the sideboard Jeff Cole created for the International Contemporary Furniture Fair. Solid walnut was milled with a wave pattern. Click photos for larger image.
The sideboard's bottom shelf was made from a piece of clear acrylic in which Interlam Inc. had milled an oval pattern. Click photos for larger image.
For the top and sides of the sideboard, Jeff Cole chose white high-density fiberboard that was smooth on the outside, patterned on the inside.
The door handle of the sideboard New York designer Jeff Cole created for Interlam Inc.