The desk is laminate but a nice color and realistic look. Be careful when you assemble, it is rather soft. Little invisible things on the floor in our back room scratched the surface while we were putting it together. Put down a cloth or assemble in a carpeted area. The hole for cords in the back of the tower cupboard is not large enough for an older display port, we had to make the hole a little larger but luckily that side faces the wall.  Overall, I'm still pleased with the desk as it is tall enough, has a large surface area, smooth drawers, ports and holes to hide as many cords as possible and is a nice colour. Assembly took a little while but the instructions were far far better than Ikea or similar.