Memory foam

Memory foam is polyurethane with additional chemicals increasing its viscosity and density. It is often referred to as "viscoelastic" polyurethane foam, or low-resilience polyurethane foam (see LRPu). Higher-density memory foam softens in reaction to body heat, allowing it to mould to a warm body in a few minutes. Lower density memory foam is pressure-sensitive and moulds quickly to the shape of a body pressing against it, returning to its original shape once the pressure is removed. Faster speed of recovery of foam to its original shape after a weight is removed is sometimes claimed as an advantage by memory-foam mattress producers, who may talk of "newer generation" foams with "faster recovery.

 I have chosen to use the foam mattress idea into my interior, it is a good idea because it does not take up much space at all as the drawing above suggests, the foam mattress will be covering the back wall and a little bit of the floor, allowing client to stand, sit or lay down in any position. 

Different ways to sleep

After reevaluating my design, I realised that the bed I have used for the interior was not fitting for the space I had. The square bed which was very detached from the rest of the interior so I have set out to consider other ways of sleeping in a tight space, below are some interesting research I came up with and how I can maybe use some of them in a different way for my space.

Vertical Bed

This bed encases the sleeper in a marshmallow of comfortable cushion while supporting the body in an upright position. (Designer: Ernesto Neto)

Foldable Bed

The bed uses fibreglass reinforced plastic tubes that can be telescoped in order to be adaptable to different sizes of the mattress. The angled frames can be arranged as a space-saving diamond holding together all tubes and the rest of the wooden frames. (Designer: Nicola From Bern)

Embrace Lounge

Embrace lounge has a hidden, body-shaped curve in it, allowing you to feel the comfort of a warm embrace. (Designer: Tanya Aguiniga)

Ohm Transformable Bed

Ohm is a transformable bed for small spaces. It becomes in two beds when you separate the structure and at the same time this modules pleat to generate 2 benches of different forms. (Designer: Victor M. Aleman)

Feel The Delux

The Feel Deluxe is made of 120 soft and extremely pleasant balls.

Magnetic Floating Bed

 Using the power of permanent opposing industrial-strength magnets to enable it to float, the full scale bed can hold 900 kilograms of weight, while a smaller one fifth scale platform can safely hold 80 kilograms. (Designer: Janjaap Ruijssenaars)

Hammock Bed

Using the power of permanent opposing industrial-strength magnets to enable it to float, the full scale bed can hold 900 kilograms of weight, while a smaller one fifth scale platform can safely hold 80 kilograms. (Designer: Janjaap Ruijssenaars)

Cardboard Bed "Itbed" 

The itbed is made from 7 mm thick cardboard that is folded like an accordion. In one step the itbed can be collapsed into an easily portable bundle making the cardboard bed an ideal solution for guest beds or frequent movers. The zigzag profile of the itbed, reminiscent of a house of cards, is stabilized from head to foot by two lengths of webbing. (Designer: IT Design)

Phat Knit

PHAT KNITS is a series of giant threads used to create, knitted or not, interior products. (Designer: Bauke Knottnerus)

http://www.demilked.com/25-unusual-and-creative-beds/

Lighting architecture

While I previously looked at different lighting, this post is just a collage of interior an architectural lighting images that I have found interesting and possibly useful for my cube space.

Futuristic lighting

For my interior space, lighting is very important. I have looked at Powell Tuck Associates as a practice I would like to work for, and they use a lot of colours and sometimes they do not use to much colours but there is always a colour like blue, yellow, red etc involved particularly in their commercial projects. So I want to look different futuristic lighting designs that could inspire the lighting in the space which in some way could reflect on my chosen firm. It is good to look at futuristic designs because it will keep my design relevant and modern.

This modern lighting design is called the VorteXX Chandelier. The trick to the beautiful lighting is the 60 led lights that can be made to generate different hues of light. There is also a programmable system that allows the home owner to create an endless different combination of light hues and effects. One to look out for if you want a attractive and futuristic lamp design.

This futuristic light system is quite different from the previous two images. Designed by Korean designer Hyomi Kim, this lighting system is used on the wall tiles which can recreate a sense of being in a spaceship environment. The name of this futuristic lighting system is called tile bright. The best part about this system is its modularity. The lighting tiles can be moved and recombined in different forms so as to create the design that best suit the layout of your home.

Best described by the designers as “a single zigzag line of light,” Janos Korban and Stefanie Flaubert’s Weblight is as visually arresting as it is energy efficient. Constructed of stainless steel tubing and polycarbonate, the “zigzag” is lit by a series of LED’s, whose use for artistic purposes we find clever and refreshing. It’s also great to see the intersection of technology, design, art, and function –Korban/Flaubert’s Weblight is a functional object, high-tech and simple all at once.

The Weblight system is also an interesting modular take on lighting- based on a single geometric unit; Weblight can be displayed individually, or in a larger chain or group. We love how something so simple and geometric becomes so freeform and organic. And thanks to the miracle of LED’s, there’s no need for tangled extension cords.  

http://dadka.net/futuristic-lighting-design/

Murphy Bed Mechanism

Since I will be using a Murphy bed for my space, I thought it will be very important to understand the mechanism of this bed. I wanted to know how it works so I can applied it for my own space. The following images are self explanatory with annotations, these are different mechanism and techniques to fold the bed. I thought I could look at each techniques and use the most effective and best one for the space I have.

Murphy Beds

In here I have looked at different Murphy beds which I intend to use in my space as inspiration, and also these examples shows the different mechanism that can be applied in a Murphy bed, there are many techniques and it can be observed through these images.

Furniture (Bed)

Considering the space restriction I had to consider several things to allow a fluent movement in the space. Ergonomic becomes very important with a congested space, so every detail must be carefully measured for clients comfort. since I will be designing a capsule hotel, I decided to use a Murphy bed in the space which can be folded and stored away to allow extra room. However the same bed can also act as a TV set.

When thinking about furniture in the space, I thought it was crucial to look at the ergonomic side of the furniture in accordance to the space. I looked at the metric handbook to understand the minimum requirement for a bed as I cannot fit a huge bed in the space. As noted on the image, the bed is 900mm wide with 2000mm length making it suitable for an average person. 

Above is the first design that I came up with to use in the space. The idea behind this design in consideration of the space restriction was to design a bed that can store a mattress in case there is more than one person in this capsule. However the trouble that I found with this design was that the rectangle in the middle which stores a second bed could not possibly be big enough, because the length of the bed in this case had to be 2000mm long, which meant that the mattress stored also has to be 2000mm for a perfect fit, but the rectangle storage space would not fit the mattress in reality because the rectangle itself is less than 2000mm making it impossible to fit the bed inside and store it.

The solution for that obstruction was to design a bed that is more open at the bottom, this means that the bed in the bottom can overlap a little bit and it will not be an issue, the bed can be pulled out and be used to sleep in at night and be placed back when not need. The reason why the bed at the top is not overlapping is because the bed frame is not obstructing the bed to fit perfectly on the bed, but the one in the bottom has to deal with a 200mm push to the right that leads to the bottom bed overlapping, this is not an issue as it does not affect the space.

With the idea of a Murphy bed in mind, once the bed was designed I started thinking about how this bed can be multi used. I considered that the space needs to have an element of entertainment otherwise the space will look like a prison with its space restriction rather than a place of relaxing. So I thought the bed could be lifted back into the wall to reveal a TV that can be used for entertainment. The TV will be hidden underneath the bed, I considered how this will work. Basically the bed legs will create a gap between the bed and the floor, this means that when the bed is pulled down, the TV will not be crushed to pieces, but it will however be protected because of the gap created by the bed legs. The bed legs also has a second purpose, it can act as shelves once the bed is pulled up, the leg at that point could be used place things on top. 

The image above are scaled section views (1:50). This was important as it allowed me to see were I would have problems, I was able to see that the bed in particular fit perfectly and the structure does not cause any obstructions or make the space compacted, and with the right material the space could however fulfill its concept.

  

Another problem I encounter while dealing with the space at first was the bed. I wanted to first have the bed rotate into the wall vertically, but after experimenting with dimensions, I realised that this could not be possible because the structure was in the was that it would not be possible, it would only push back against the structure, that is when i finally decided the bed thing would be to rotate it horizontally which leaves enough space and does not cause client to hit their head against the structure upon waking up. 

I also looked at the structure itself, and as the image above shows, the place which I want to have like a sink for hand wash has had to be considered too. The ergonomic side of the design here was also very important. In order to have a comfortable table to wash hand I referred to the metric handbook and the appropriate dimension was to have the table at 700mm height, this means that the client will not have to bend down to wash hand, but the table will be at an appropriate height.