As part of our portfolio project we wanted to explore an alternative to the more traditional storage options for dry goods, canned food etc...
As part of our portfolio project we wanted to explore an alternative to the more traditional storage options for dry goods, canned food etc. Typically these would be stored in either multiple wall cabinets or, increasingly, in narrow but tall form factor pull out larders.
At our disposal we had off cuts from the full-stave wenge worktops (this is a dark, close grained, African hard-wood) used in the kitchen, an alcove and a by chance discovery of some strangely familiar aluminium boxes. Anyone who has been on an aircraft will recognise the box design/type straight away. They're built to standard sizes, light weight and in their used state have the kind of instant retro/industrial cool that made them ideal for this project.
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| A clue to the source of our boxes |
With the raw materials to hand we looked at ways we could bring them together as an overall design and we also identified an opportunity to highlight a useful trick with smaller rooms; getting furniture off the floor and creating clear sight lines to the walls/skirting. As a side benefit this would also raise the height of the storage to put it at an ideal range requiring neither scrabbling around on the floor or scaling a step-ladder.
We also wanted to do things a bit differently to the obvious notion of installing some standard shelves, sticking the boxes on top and signing it off; this was to be a piece of furniture and we'd be aiming for a design which appeared to have very little physical connection to the walls around it.
The design we committed to was in essence two large boxes separated with a thin waist line. The upper large box would have four compartments into which 4 of the smaller sized aluminium boxes would sit and the lower box would have two compartments containing one each of the double height boxes. This would provide a large storage volume - at least large enough given the overall context of the portfolio project.
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| Lower assembly hanging from the bars which will eventually form the waistline |
To minimise the appearance of a physical connection we elected to use solid aluminium bars anchor bolted into either side of the alcove. We knew the overall weight of the piece would approach 80kgs so each bar was substantial and the anchor bolts were over specified.
The aluminium bars would engage in the waistline of the piece and would be the only clearly visible physical connection. Looking at either side of the piece you would be able to see all the way to the back wall except for where the two 25mm high bars were. The upper box would be screwed into the "waist line" whilst the lower would hang from it. To allow the lower box to hang from the waist but mitigate the risk of it tearing itself out we used additional aluminium bars inside the lower box allowing us to bolt through the waistline and into the box.
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| Detail of one of the aluminium bars that the entire piece is supported by |
Creating the compartments was an exercise in extracting the maximum out of the off cuts we had available always being conscious that we wanted the side view to include solid slabs of the full stave wenge. The carcasses were screwed and plugged and the intermediate shelf in the upper formed with plywood which was "faced" in another section of wenge.
The actual aluminium boxes were then installed into each compartment and screwed through the base. We were able to source some specific drawers for one layer of the smaller boxes which further increased their utility.
The end result is substantial in storage volume terms but due to it sitting off the ground the clear sight lines under and around it, it appears visually light. The use of the wenge (and aluminium) visually associates the piece with the kitchen.
Designing and implementing a mounting mechanism (the aluminium bars and waistline idea) that could handle the projected weight and abstract the piece from the vagaries of the uneven plaster/brick work in the alcove was an interesting challenge.
The actual aluminium boxes were then installed into each compartment and screwed through the base. We were able to source some specific drawers for one layer of the smaller boxes which further increased their utility.
The end result is substantial in storage volume terms but due to it sitting off the ground the clear sight lines under and around it, it appears visually light. The use of the wenge (and aluminium) visually associates the piece with the kitchen.
Designing and implementing a mounting mechanism (the aluminium bars and waistline idea) that could handle the projected weight and abstract the piece from the vagaries of the uneven plaster/brick work in the alcove was an interesting challenge.
