Animation of three module inserts rising out of a desk top and settling back into their ports

Product venturePart 1 of 2Drawing 17.1 of 37

Product design

The port, the underside grid and the eight modules that plug into them. It's one interface that I drew once and kept the same at every size.

StatusComplete 2026. Built and in daily use as my brother's desk
The interfaceThree-port top at 45 by 22 inches, underside grid at 6 inch pitch
Drawn3 desk sizes, 3 leg variants, 8 accessory modules
BuiltThe medium top with all three ports cut, on legs, with a monitor arm and a power strip in the ports

Sheet 02 of 03/The interface

The port

The same stepped port gets cut into every top. The small size has fewer of them and the large has more, so one module fits any size.

Dimensioned engineering drawing of the medium desk top showing three port cut-outs with radii and step depths — *PL 03*The dimensioned port on a top 45 by 22 inches. It's a stepped rebate with radiused corners so a router can cut it, and this drawing is the core of the product.

Dimensioned drawing of the desk underside showing a regular grid of mounting holes — *PL 04*The underside hole grid at six-inch spacing. Anything that hangs below the surface bolts on here.

CAD view of the small desk top with two rectangular ports — *PL 05*Small top, two ports.

CAD view of a wood desk top with three rectangular port cut-outs in a row along one edge — *PL 01*The medium top, 45 by 22 inches, with three identical ports along the back edge. Everything else in the product plugs into it.

CAD view of the large desk top with four rectangular ports in a row — *PL 06*Large top, four ports. The pocket and the lip are the same at every size.

CAD view of a tan desk top on four round grey legs, with three stepped rectangular ports along the back edge — *PL 25*The three-port top on legs in CAD.

CAD view of a single round grey leg with a flat circular mounting plate at the top — *PL 30*The regular leg, a round post with a mounting plate on top.

Sheet 03 of 03/The modules

What plugs in

There are eight modules, including a work lamp and a shelf. I modeled them in SolidWorks, except the monitor arm, which is the vendor's own CAD that I pulled in instead of drawing from scratch.

CAD view of a two-tier shelf module that sits into a desk port — *PL 07*Two-tier shelf.

CAD view of a tall rectangular work lamp mounted on a port insert — *PL 08*Work lamp.

CAD view of a dual monitor arm mounted to a desk port insert — *PL 09*Dual monitor arm, fit-checked against real vendor CAD rather than my own guess at clearance.

CAD view of a shallow wooden tray with a raised rim and rounded corners — *PL 27*Tray.

Wireframe CAD view of a flat rounded insert with a circular recess in the middle — *PL 28*Wireless attachment, shown in wireframe.

CAD view of a single monitor arm standing on a wooden port insert — *PL 29*Single monitor arm.

CAD view of the desk with an insert in each port, holding a tall open frame on the left, a small round part in the middle and a tall black lamp on the right — *PL 26*Three modules dropped into the ports, with the work lamp on the right.