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A Glass Pool Table (With a Catch)

Designing for novelty, yea or nay?

By Rain Noe - July 18, 2017

in Materials | Furniture Design | Sports

As I've mentioned here before, when I was studying ID one of my (famous) design professors hated when people redesigned an existing object to be made from a different material. He'd surely hate this table, but I'd like to hear what you think.

Australian company Elite Innovations is selling, in very limited quantities, this "X1 Everest Ultra Modern Pool Table" by Nottage Design.

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As you can see it's made of glass, and the billiards players among you are probably wondering how that's possible; felt-over-slate it ain't. Well, EI has patented a proprietary finish called Vitrik, "a coating and mesh multi-layer combination, fixed to the glass, which allows the balls to roll silently at a near identical rate to a standard cloth table, plus spin (English) can be applied," they write. "It's highly durable, completely non-toxic and is 96% transparent."

Here's what the balls look like rolling on said surface:

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So, here's the thing. Not mentioned in the product copy, but buried in the FAQ is the fact that "Only balls supplied by Elite Innovations can be used on the Vitrik surface," as they are coated in a corresponding finish that will not mar the surface of the table. The company has apparently not done a good job of making this clear: Five years ago a California man purchased the $73,000 G1, a predecessor to the X1 that's also made of glass and coated in Vitrik, and began shooting pool on it with regular billiards. The result?

"[He] discovered to his horror that this left the table 'scuffed, scratched, damaged—essentially destroyed,'" the man's lawyer told ABC News, in describing the man's subsequent $219,000 lawsuit against Nottage Design.

The X1 is pretty to look at and surely a status symbol as only five will be produced annually. But changing the material to glass and Vitrik does not confer any functional advantage, just novelty. And novelty eventually wears off. My purist professor would have lambasted this in crit; however, what's your take on it?

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Peter Schumacher

7 years ago

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Well this interesting. I was the professor who supervised the project when it was developed as a final year project a number of years ago. The use of glass was originally explored as a more cost effective way of creating large flat surfaces for pool tables. We originally thought it would enable the table to be constructed for less than a traditional slate table. In the early stages of the project we were unsure how the number stacked up so we took a dive in and committed to the glass to see if it would work. At some point we thought, if it is glass why not make it clear. All credit to Craig, he took the idea and ran with it. Being a final year project we encourage students to take on challenging projects and radical ideas and see if they can make them work. It is not always about the most commercial idea, or about 'good taste' but following and idea to see where is goes. Craig was amazing and worked incredibly hard to build a full working model for the final year exhibition. Most of the night it was surrounded by students, friends and designers, drinking beer and playing pool. An incredible outcome for a final year project. After he graduated he worked for other manufacturing companies but kept the idea alive. He was then approached by someone who wanted one for his penthouse in Sydney, the rest is history. Last I heard Craig now works in California working on other luxury projects. Is it 'good design'? As a lecturer I am not the keeper of the flame or have the final word on what is right. I facilitate and encourage students to work at the highest level to get into the fields and areas that match their abilities and interests. Sometimes I have to park my 'taste' at the door as I do not think it my job to impose my taste on others. I can facilitate the discussion and talk about the historic factors and ideas, but the final call belongs to the students.

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Craig Nottage

7 years ago

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I just thought I would chime in on this discussion - I'm the designer and founder.

I commenced this project due to the fact there was a lack of innovation and variation in pool table design and materials - they have basically been made in the same way for several hundred years.

I wanted to take nothing for granted with the design and create a completely new direction for pool tables for two simple reasons:

1) There have been stratospheric advancements in manufacturing and materials in the last several hundred years - including materials that can be used in place of fabric covered slate to control the roll of the balls over a flat, hard surface.

2) I love ultra modern design and materials and don't particularly care for antiques.

Was I trying to IMPROVE on the way a pool table functions or in some way advance the product forwards? That sort of question is missing the point - some people like the way traditional tables look and play, but others like an ultra modern design with a new experience. It's a bit like asking if the latest chair design and materials are better than older designs.

I came up with a new transparent playing surface that gives the balls similar behavioural characteristics to cloth. It is a beautiful effect to see a ball rolling silently and smoothly on a clear soft material, it looks like an optical illusion. How does it play? In researching existing cloths to replicate their characteristics, I found that they varied enormously in how they roll depending on the type. We created a material that rolled somewhere between a fast and slow grade of cloth.

A pool table to many people is first and foremost an art piece for a living room or game room, followed by a piece of gaming equipment. Just like a nice piece of furniture - it has to be functional but most place some importance on the style and materials. Many of my clients feature an ultra modern aesthetic in their interior and this fits in perfectly. It's relevant to note that our pool tables range in price from just under $40,000 - $85,000 USD (depending on exchange rate) - these are custom built and high end items.

My professor, Peter Schumacher, (thanks for commenting here) was integral in the early stages of the project and has contributed a lot to this project and others. He is right, as I explored design and materials with the mindset of taking nothing for granted the product took on a life of its own - an industrial style, minimalist creation of metal and glass and a new innovative playing surface. Is it to everyone's taste? Of course not - it's a style for people who love an ultra modern, minimalist and 'industrial' aesthetic.

In regards to the lawsuit, it was a complicated situation between us and a 3rd party agent, we replaced the customers surface and provided new balls shortly after.

I am currently working on some very exciting new projects with Elite, to continue making some beautiful new ultra modern pieces and some changes to make our pool tables a fantastic experience to play on and own.

As a side note - aside from the design and playing surface, I spent considerable effort integrating the ball return system into the frame design - take a look at the G-1 and G-4 pool tables.

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Jay Davis

7 years ago

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On the special balls.

The lawsuit is from 2012, I don't know how that turned out, it would be great to see an update on that. That being said I looked at the website and they really don't make it clear. They language to me implies their balls offer the best performance and other balls risk damage. Now maybe things have changed but if they haven't just say customers need to use your balls.

Now as to your teacher and this material change?

I'm all for changes that are aesthetically pleasing and functional. But sometimes I just want the item in red and not in blue.

I don't think professionals would see any reason to adopt this table.

Now as a designer I could see potential to take advantage of the material and transparency.

My father owns a pool table. The cloth get's dirty and have torn in the past. This could be superior to that by using this material. Though I would think the coating would wear out eventually.

I've understood some of the hate for products that are just visually appealing if they perform their primary functions well.

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Ronny Bagdadi

7 years ago

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I'd like to see your professor bring something like this to market; it's easy to masturbate verbally, but much harder to actually build something beautiful that works... 😂😆

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