Floating Wooden Sustainable Egg Pod Is Home To Artist Stephen Turner For A Year.

The Exbury Egg is a collaborative project between artist Stephen Turner, SPUD and PAD studio. After almost 3 years in development, the energy efficient, self-sustaining pod will serve as home and workspace to Stephen in the estuary of the River Beaulieu.





The Exbury Egg was built of reclaimed cedar planks by boat builder Paul Baker and has a two perspex windows, a hammock for sleeping, minimal storage,a sink and a cooker. The power needed for charging items such as a laptop, digital camera and mobile phone will be met by using solar energy.


above: Paul Baker (boatbuilder) stands in front of the first half of the Egg. The keels are clearly visible above Paul's head. These will give the Egg stability in the water and keep it upright at low tide.

The egg being inspected and then lowered into the water for the first time:



Success! It floats.


Designed to withstand the elements, it will be tethered to the shore with a floating versadock pontoon and serve as a place to study the life of the tidal creek and to experience local natural cycles of the environment as it relates to human activity.






During his 12 month journey, Stephen (shown above in his new temporary home) plans to catalogue his own visual and philosophical journey in collections of still and moving image, found objects, drawings and maps.

To quote Stephen, ‘Climate change is already creating new shorelines and habitats. Established salt marsh is being eroded by a combination of rising sea levels and falling landmass and the entire littoral environment is in a state of flux. The implications for wildlife and for the flora as well as for people are challenging. Raising awareness of the past and the unfolding present of a very special location will be the task, whist living in an ethical relationship with nature and treading as lightly as possible upon the land.’

Below is a timelapse video of the egg construction:


The architectural plans:





The beautiful images of the Exbury Egg in this post were photographed by Nigel Rigdon.



Learn more about the Exbury Egg here.

1938 Space Age Mountain Pod By Charlotte Perriand is Reconstucted by Cassina.

A futuristic mountain pod - or the Refuge Barrel (Refuge Tonneau), as it was originally called- designed by Charlotte Perriand in 1938 has been authentically reconstructed by Cassina.



Mountain lover and designer Charlotte Perriand first imagined the mobile refuge in 1936 and in 1938 she and the designer she often worked with, Pierre Jeanneret, developed it for his space at the Design Village at the Furniture Fair.


above: a maquette of the original Refuge Barrel

above: Charlotte Perriand and Pierre Jeanneret with Corbusier

The dodecahedral pod, originally designed for Mountain Alps, has an aluminum exterior and a fir wooden interior. Purposely designed to be both lightweight and sturdy, the prefab structure sits on stilts which provide good stability, even on the roughest and steep terrain. The central pole has twelve spokes at the top giving it an umbrella like ceiling.





The stove is located in the central pipe and warms the entire pod:



The structure is divided into a ground floor with four single beds and a loft with two double beds, capable of sleeping up to eight people:


The beds on the ground floor, inspired by railroad cars of the time, fold up with leather straps:


The tiny kitchen has a wooden worktop in which a stainless steel sink is placed to melt snow:



In addition, there are special containers for food staples, a shelf for a small camp stove, a table on which maps of the area are laminated and a storage room for backpacks and ski storage.




Cassina has faithfully reproduced the pod on the basis of original drawings, notes or parts already made by Perriand in other housing projects.


above image only, courtesy of Designboom





With this reconstruction, Cassina allows anyone to enter the interior of this visionary structure, otherwise doomed to oblivion.

Images courtesy of Cassina and Dwell

The Sleepbox. Mod Architectural Pods For Private Space in Public Places.

The Sleepbox was first designed in 2009 and finally realized in late 2011. The modular unit, designed by Russian architects M. Krymov and A.Goryainov of Arch Group, is designed to provide moments of quiet sleep and rest from the city without wasting time searching for a hotel.




Sleepbox base features include ventilation and sockets for notebook and mobile phone chargers. Space for luggage is under the bed, and each bed has a nightstand. In addition to general lighting, Sleepbox has built-in LED reading lamps. Windows are equipped with electric-drive blinds for privacy.



In mid-August 2011, the first Sleepbox (a two-bed double version) was installed at the Aeroexpress terminal of Sheremetyevo International Airport, Moscow, Russia. It represents the base version made of MDF with a natural ash-tree veneer.









This Sleepbox attracted such a great deal of interest from passengers and big companies that chances are first commercially operated boxes will be installed at airports and in the city by the end of this year.

Video of the Sleepbox in Sheremetyevo International Airport, Moscow, Russia:


Possible locations for Sleepbox include railroad stations, airports, expocentres, public shopping centers and accommodation facilities. In countries with warm climates Sleepbox can be used on the streets.




Sleepbox is a small mobile compartment (box) with a 2.5x1.6m base and 2.5-3m
height. One of its main advantages is its ability to be installed in the airport “clean” zone, just in front of the gates. This is precisely the area where travelers have to spend hours waiting for their delayed flights or transfer.

Video presentation of Sleepbox 1:


Currently Arch Group offers one-, two-, or three-bed Sleepboxes, which can be made of MDF (wood), metal, and glass-reinforced plastic. Sleepbox allows from 30 min to several hours of paid use. The price varies depending on the number of hours in use: the more the user pays for, the less it costs per hour.

Sleepbox’s main function is to afford a restful sleep. However, depending on location, it can be equipped with additional features. Available options include:

Matted film on windows with changing transparency
Mood lighting - LED lamps with changing light colors
Built-in media block (TV, touch-screen monitor)
Wi-Fi router
Alarm, intercom
Safe deposit box
Built-in payment station with magnetic keys


The Sleepbox Hostel Edition:




Area: 3.75 m2
architects: Goryainov A., Krymov M.
Design: 2009

This type of Sleepbox is designed for use in hostels. It provides a minimum of functions, and is equipped only with electrical outlets and lighting. Flexible ducts are connected to a general ventilation system. Case is made of laminated moisture-resistant MDF, which finishes a frame of wooden beams. Sleepbox for hostels has a bunk bed. The concept of the hostel is as follows: large interior without walls filled with sleepboxes instead of building separate facilities-rooms. This allows economizing on construction and finishing works and significantly reducing the time spent on construction. In addition it will allow very efficient use of available space and, if necessary, quickly change the plan. This solution also allows increasing the number of seats smoothly and without causing any inconvenience to guests.

Prices for Sleepbox start from as low as 7,000 EUR. Investments in Sleepbox pay back in 6-9 months.

Interested? Please contact:
+ 7 903 171 52 52
info@sleepbox.com
OOO Sleepbox
Gazetniy per 17-2, Moscow, Russia, 125009
They speak English, Spanish and Russian.



Sleepbox.com