The Design Development of - PDF document

1 The Design Development of Hexi - House
The Design Development of Hexi - House Our e - Scrap Book of ideas, mistakes and innovations (Jul 2012 – Present) Where it all began…. While attending a social entrepreneurship course in July 2012, Dublin - based business student Chris Rooney was tasked with coming up with a new sustainable housing system for developing countries that would use recycled materials in the process. Upon assignment of this brief the first phone call made by Chris was to his father, Jim – a Belfast based architect with 30 years experience. Chris’ initial thought was to use reinforced cardboard to create a flat - packed hexagonal house which could be assembled as an emergency shelter for disaster victims . After some brainstorming, Jim sketched the initial concept for Hexi - House (left). The design came comp

2 lete with a water capture system on the
lete with a water capture system on the roof which would filter rain water down through the house via a central pipe into a basin thus provide a source of clean water for disaster victims . These designs were featured by Design4Disaster.org in stage 1 of a 3 part feature. Jul, 2012 Digitizing our designs After the initial concept sketches we decided to have our designs produced digitally. At this point we planned for Hexi - House’s internal structure to be made from reinforced cardboard tubing inspired by the work of Japanese architect Shigeru Ban . At this stage the concept of the design could be summarised as follows: 1. To design an emergency shelter for a 5 person family that would be built largely from light weight recyclable materials. 2. To utilise the entire roof as a water

3 catchment facility enabling rain water
catchment facility enabling rain water to be captured , filtered and piped into a storage vessel for future use. 3. To explore the full potential of the hexagonal plan form as a modular unit in a larger matrix – such as a honeycomb structure or the stone columns of the Giants Causeway. 4. To design the house to ensure it could arrive on site in a flat packed kit format allowing it to be assembled quickly avoiding the need for skilled labour . The majority of these properties have remained in the current concept. Nov, 2012 Our ‘Ah Ha’ Moment January 2013 we reached our ‘Ah Ha’ moment where we realised the original idea of a funnel shaped roof with the central downpipe was no longer a feasible option. While it was a unique design, our focus switched to maximizing the interior

4 space in the pod and creating a system w
space in the pod and creating a system where rainwater could drain to the perimeter of the roof sides. With this in mind we saw the potential to cluster pods together so that you could combine the roof area of three pods and capture water at the central point then filtering it into a barrel below the roof. Up to this point all of our focus had continued to be about making a pod for the disaster relief market and we sought outside help to animate this core application. The images shown were taking from this animation video which shows the construction of a single pod and also how many have the potential to create a pop - up village. Jan, 2013 Time for 3D Jim, our head of design, decided to dust off his old model making skills from his college days to 3D - ify all his drawings and thoughts

5 to date . After some time, and with s
to date . After some time, and with some balsa wood and steady hands the first 1:20 scale model (1 st image) was produced. The model shows the tubular along with the potential for beds and how they can fold up to maximize living space during the day. Feeling he was reeling in his model making years, Jim then decided to produce a 1:10 scale model (2 nd image). This image showed more details of the structure of the roof as well as the details of the floor intended to be made from recycled pallets. Even at its most basic level, the production of these models helped to validate the structure and gave a greater sense of how the real thing would be constructed. Apr, 2013 Lunar Landing on a new Idea Nov, 2013 The concept of creating H exi - House to be a disaster relief shelter had alwa

6 ys been our focus. However, the more we
ys been our focus. However, the more we started to develop the project, the more we started to realise the potential applications in other areas. One of these was as a garden house. Garden houses are becoming increasingly popular and can have numerous applications; everything from a garden office to a child’s playhouse. The first image shows a Lunar Landing Hexi - House; we even thought about the potential to put a smoke machine in the bottom base and a flashing beacon on top! The second image shows a hippy design which could be used as a fancy camping pod for music festivals. With every idea from bespoke consumer designs to pods with corporate branding, at this point we started to realise a wide scope of potential for Hexi - House beyond just the disaster relief. Feb, 2014 Dual St

7 rategy Model While we were excited about
rategy Model While we were excited about the garden house application we didn’t want to forget about it’s use as disaster relief accommodation. As a result, we decided earlier in the year that we wanted to pursue a dual strategy model and run Hexi - House as a social business. This will work whereby the purchase of Hexi - House by private consumers will help fund the deployment of H exi - House for disaster victims. While the details of the ratio of cost structure are yet to be worked out the model has been very much inspired by Toms Shoes’ one - for - one model . These images show our latest ( professionally produced) 1:10 scale model. The model shows three pods at various stages of construction as well as showing how three pods can connect together to create three separate rooms f

8 or a family. Vinyl ideas Following on f
or a family. Vinyl ideas Following on from Jim’s sketches of potential design ideas for Hexi - House, we decided to enlist some external help and put out a call to students at an art college for submissions of design ideas. Our favourite submissions were these unusual designs which capture tribal images from different cultures presented with these very unique colour mixes. Our idea is for these to be available as set designs fir when the pod is first released and then to introduce the potential for people to submit their own designs which can be printed as a vinyl finish on to the pod. Ultimately, this will allow for a unique feature in a garden , which will serve a useful purpose and which will have a very positive social benefit . Apr, 2014 Why did we make this e - Scrap Book avail

9 able? Hexi - House is at an interesting
able? Hexi - House is at an interesting point in its development in that we have, as you can see, a clear goal in what we want to create yet we still have the scope to be able to take on - board clever ideas and easily implement it in to the design process. This is where you come in! Having read about our journey we would love to hear your feedback (good or bad) or ideas (both design and application) for our pod. By giving your feedback, you get to make your mark on something which has the potential to make a real difference in people’s lives and we will also ensure to keep you posted as we develop. To give us your feedback, click here and complete the form. Thanks for your support! Jim and Chris ( Hexi - House founders) Like our content? Why not subscribe to our blog or follow us on Twitter