Our Story
Ever leant on a restaurant table only to have your wine spill, and a waiter rushing over to solve the wobble with a few folded napkins under the table’s leg?
We all have a wobbly table story, but for the Heyring family the story didn’t end with the napkin, it marked the beginning of NOROCK self-stabilising table bases.
Chris Heyring has been mastering stabilising technology for over 35 years, pioneering global stability solutions for industry-leading companies including McLaren, Toyota, and Nissan. With Chris’ background, it’s not a huge surprise that with his son Toby they saw the wobbly table problem as something that could be, and had to be, solved.
Toby Heyring was raised by his parents Chris and Anny (both art school graduates, with Chris often being confused for an engineer) with the freedom to explore ideas and be inquisitive with a range of interests. As a child it was obvious Toby had inherited the inventor gene, designing and building model boats and cars from scratch, to now, as an adult creating new prototypes and expanding the NOROCK product range. Toby’s passion for refinement and advancement shows in NOROCK’s continuous improvement ethos.
We have always had an interest in dining and the wobbly table seemed like a universal issue that could be solved in a simple and elegant manner
Chris and Toby began working on a range of self-stabilising table base prototypes in their Dunsborough workshop in 2009, filing their first patent in 2010. Up to 2016, NOROCK was purely a technical company interested in product design, engineering, IP and manufacturing. But it was time to sell the product – enter Claire Spalding, CEO + Chair, who with her love for interiors and background in marketing, helped develop the NOROCK brand and introduce it to the hospitality industry worldwide. With our expanded team around the world, we’re excited to work with our network of distributors and reps to say NO to wobbles, spills, time-wasting, problematic parts, with NO compromise on design – in restaurants, cafes, bars, aged care, and offices.
From the cobblestone streets of Europe to the poured concrete sidewalks in America, from the wooden decks in Japan to the brick-paved beer gardens in the UK… to our home country, Australia and its uneven laneways. NOROCK can be found worldwide, and with its simple self-stabilising mechanism and award-winning design, anything else is a compromise.
[ NOROCK USA ]
In early 2020, NOROCK USA LLC was born out of a desire to meet the needs of the American market by providing sales and warehouse distribution from within.
With our warehouse full of stock and our VP Sales, Martin Bolick, located in Illinois, customer service and delivery of stock are a breeze throughout the Americas. Martin has a strong history in furniture and loves to chat about how a self-stabilizing table base can be the customer touchpoint that your business needs, or, that can add that extra wow factor to the design you’re presenting (we love speaking to interior designers and architects, too!).
NOROCK USA has many representatives dotted throughout the states, who can assist in fit-outs of large fast-food chains to high-end dining to “Mom-and-Pop” stores with our self-stabilizing indoor/outdoor table bases. You can find a NOROCK representative near you or email Martin on martin@no-rock.com to find out more information.
Pictured: Christopher’s at Wrigley Mansion, Arizona.
[ NOROCK AUSTRALIA ]
NOROCK self-stabilising table bases were born and bred in Australia, so we are really excited that in early 2021, we landed stock in Sydney to ship directly from our warehouse throughout the country.
We have some incredible furniture distributors all over Australia who would love to talk to any and all interior designers, architects, restaurant owners, commercial offices and more about specifying our self-stabilising table bases for your projects.
Pictured: Bobby’s, Cronulla.
[ SUSTAINABILITY ]
At NOROCK, sustainability is a key focus of our approach. Our self-stabilising table bases are built to last with no replacement parts, reducing waste and promoting longevity. We use only FSC-certified packaging to ensure our materials come from responsibly managed forests, and we are applying for B Corp certification to meet the highest standards of social and environmental performance. Inspired by the beauty of the south-west of Australia where our headquarters are located, we are committed to protecting the natural world and continuously improving our practices for a better future.
Our Team
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Toby Heyring
Co-Inventor / Founder
info@no-rock.com
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Claire Spalding
CEO + Chair
info@no-rock.com
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Chris Heyring
Co-Inventor / Founder
info@no-rock.com
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Martin Bolick
VP Sales - Americas
martin@no-rock.com
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Geoff Spalding
Logistics Manager
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Claire Ritchie
Marketing + Communications
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Gabrielle Macdonald
Operations Lead
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Timeline
1982
Tensile structures
Award-winning iconic tensile structures such as the Leeuwin Estate outdoor music sound shell, the America’s Cup Village, and many others.
1990
Kinetic
Internationally recognised hydraulic suspension technology aids winning teams in the World Rally and Dakar campaigns, now used in Toyota, Nissan, and McLaren vehicles worldwide.
2002
Nauti-Craft
Patented technology that separates a boat’s hulls from the deck and superstructure via a ‘passive reactive’ interlinked hydraulic system providing increased levels of ride comfort, control and stability.
2012
NOROCK
NOROCK is born: mechanical self-stabilising table bases that don’t ROCK, NO matter what. Using our patented technology and designed to perfection, NOROCK bases self-stabilise in less than two seconds. Perfect for indoor and outdoor use and proving to be the ultimate in restaurant table bases.
2016
International launch
NOROCK launches distribution partnerships in Australia, Europe, United Kingdom, and Japan.
2017
Award-winning
NOROCK wins both the Good Design and RedDot awards.
2020
USA launch
NOROCK’s direct-to-market launch in the USA with warehouse distribution and sales staff located in Illinois.
2021
Australia launch
NOROCK’s direct-to-market launch in Australia with warehouse distribution in New South Wales.