Protect desk from laptop heat

My work laptop is drying out my hand made desk so gaps are opening up, the heat coming out the rear bottom fans is the problem. I can fix the desk but I would like something to protect the desk from the laptop so it doesn't get worse and doesn't happen again when I decide to fix it.

I don't really want something with fans, I don't want to angle the laptop up and the thinner the better. Has anyone found something that works? I did a search and the things I like the look of I question if they'll do much good, even make things worse, and the ones that claim they do exactly what I want look questionable at best.
 

Lord Evermore

Ars Scholae Palatinae
1,490
Subscriptor++
Maybe just a silicon mat? Or some other material that could act as a heat spreader, or as an insulator so that the air gets blown out around all the edges of the laptop rather than directly down in one spot. Other than that, anything that lifts the laptop is your best bet. You have to accept some alteration to the height or angle due to the laws of physics. What in the world did you make the desk out of that the heat from a laptop is warping it?