Habi-Sabi for InMidtown
Habi-Sabi is the winning design in the InMidtown Habitats Competition run by the Architecture Foundation. Entrants were challenged to create designs to accommodate the wildlife within the InMidtown area, focussing on bats, birds and bees, that would suit the varying terrain of the urban district of Holborn, Bloomsbury and St. Giles. 51% Studios designs for a Beehive, Swift & Bat Box and Planter unanimously won the judges’ vote and were announced the winner.
51% Studios’ Habi-Sabi design is a rooftop family of rapidly deployable, flat pack urban habitats. They are made from one material, use two tools to assemble for each item and employs three joints: a tooth, a peg and a lock. The material used is Barsmark PT-200, recycled from the linings and fibres of cars, fridges and insulation products. While the IKEA style production and packaging allows for efficient shipping, the simple designs (and illustrated assembly manual) make the objects easy to construct and therefore accessible to everyone.
Intensive testing and prototyping with local beekeepers and the Swift Conservation preceded manufacture. The collection is cut on a 3 axis CNC router on the Suffolk / Norfolk border.
All manuals and packaging are 100% recycled too!
More information on the designs can be found on the Habi-Sabi website and in our blog.
Return to the portfolio page here.