Smart Public Furniture
Basic information
Project Title
Full project title
Category
Project Description
New school of public furniture
What’s cool for school?
Architecture and design studio Hello Wood has created a line of unconventional outdoor furniture with smart functions for schools and universities. The sleek pieces of solid wood furniture have been installed at educational institutions, where they also serve as a community space. The Smart Public Furniture family consists of two different furniture, called Fluid Cube and City Snake.
Project Region
EU Programme or fund
Description of the project
Summary
Architecture and design studio Hello Wood has created an outdoor furniture line for public spaces. The lines of Fluid Cube and City Snake were inspired by nature. In consideration of their outdoor placement and desired lifecycle, the structures were built of larch, a highly durable wood type that takes on a natural grey patina with time. The expansion joints that prevent the cracking of the wood also play role in shaping the character. We truly believe that the purpose of innovative design is to turn articles of everyday use into lovable objects.
The 4 pieces of outdoor furniture (2 of each design) were distributed in the frame of a tender by the client. The jury selected the winners based on complex system of criteria, including the characteristics of the site, the number and means of students, and the creativity of the individual bids. We hope that this kind of good example will spread and more and more company will consider it important to carry out high quality, socially engaged projects.
The furniture family features a lighting system and USB outlets, as well, which required the integration of solar panels and batteries. The larch pieces were cut from sawn blocks of wood using CNC technology. In spite of the limits of the technology, the studio successfully managed to design the large scale structure that fits a regular CNC machine without producing waste.The final hollow wood beams lie on a steel structure.
Key objectives for sustainability
The focus was to create a public structure which has high aesthetic quality and practical function as well. During the research process, we studied the existing solar outdoor furniture designs. It had to fit into the following criterias: had to be ergonomic, adaptable to all kinds of public spaces, had to be made of renewable resources and while being able to withstand public use, had to be easy to manufacture, transport, install, had to radiate an intimate, organic feel and openness.
When designing this outdoor furniture family, we had to reimagine the genre of public furniture so we turned them into visually attractive and functional installations, powered by renewable energy. The lines were inspired by nature. In consideration of their outdoor placement and desired lifecycle, the structures were built of larch, a highly durable wood type that takes on a natural grey patina with time. The expansion joints that prevent the cracking of the wood also play a role in shaping the character.
We believe that a socially responsive attitude and the utilization of the material constraints in an innovative way, is crucial for sustainable design. All of our projects are centered around social responsibility, life cycle design and the relations between community and architecture.
Key objectives for aesthetics and quality
When designing this project, we searched for other examples of solar public furniture and there are few. We combined seamlessly the functions of public furniture (comfortable seat, gathering point) and integrated a smart solution (the solar panels) so we created visually engaging and innovative objects.
The biggest challenge in designing public furniture is to create an aesthetically pleasing object which is also vandal proof, withstands everyday use in the middle of a public space and attracts users. That is why we used massive, durable larch beams and planks, combining functionality and design. We also had to comply with several technical and safety standards. During production we had to figure out how to fit the big pieces of wooden planks in the CNC machine in one piece.
Key objectives for inclusion
The outdoor furniture designs were commissioned by MVM Hungarian Electricity Private Limited Company (MVM). MVM decided about the distribution of the pieces by way of a tender open to educational institutions. The call received close to 600 bids.
The 4 pieces of outdoor furniture (2 of each design) were distributed in the frame of a tender by the client. The jury selected the winners based on complex system of criteria, including the characteristics of the site, the number and means of students, and the creativity of the individual bids. We hope that this kind of good example will spread and more and more company will consider it important to carry out high quality, socially engaged projects.
The technology helps citizens to interact directly with both community and city infrastructure. Passersby can recharge their phones or tablets with the solar powered USBs while recharging themselves, as well, by chilling on the furniture.
Results in relation to category
The Smart Furniture line is easily built at any given public site. It gives the public space a refreshing, innovative, cool quality with its aesthetic, while focusing on sustainability questions.
How Citizens benefit
We believe that the purpose of exciting and innovative design is to turn articles of everyday use into loveable objects - and hoped the rest of the world thinks it so!
We reinvented City Snake a year later, in 2020 ten more pieces of smart furniture landed in educational institutions. Some of the built projects are also available for the public (i.e.: in front of a university).
Innovative character
Architecture and design studio Hello Wood has created a line of unconventional outdoor furniture with smart functions for schools and universities. The sleek pieces of solid wood furniture have been installed at four educational institutions, where they also serve as a community space.
The outdoor furniture designs, commissioned by MVM Hungarian Electricity Private Limited Company (MVM), reimagine the genre of public sculpture by including smart functions powered by renewable energy. According to Hello Wood co-founder, Dávid Ráday, the purpose of exciting and innovative design is to turn articles of everyday use into loveable objects. MVM decided about the distribution of the pieces by way of a tender open to educational institutions. The call received close to 600 bids.
„The cool lines of the Fluid Cube and the City Snake were cut from sawn blocks of wood using CNC technology, which allowed us to minimize the waste,” explained András Huszár, Hello Wood co-founder. In consideration of their outdoor placement and desired lifecycle, the structures were built of larch, a highly durable wood type that takes on a natural grey patina with time. The expansion joints that prevent the cracking of the wood also play a role in shaping the character of each piece of furniture. They house the mood lighting, which slices up the solid shapes with strips of light using solar power. The integrated USB sockets, WiFi hotspot, and lighting are all powered by the shock resistant solar panels developed by the Hungarian brand Platio.
The City Snake is a modular structure; its elements are variable to fit the given site. The Fluid Cube is a fixed unit with solar cells swimming between the layers of its tempered glass top. This transparent roof blocks rain, but lets the sunlight through. Users can stretch out along the shape of the City Snake, while the openings of the Fluid Cube are designed so more than one unit can be lined up side by side.
