Prefab Igloo Home/Portable Office
Icewall One, the Australia-based manufacturer designed these pre-fabricated remote shelter to create an instant and transportable home away from home for scientists based in inclement climes. But they don’t have to function only as research stations. Eco tourists like them too. Made of lightweight fiberglass, the modular igloo consists of 8 molded wall panels with 4 self-supporting floor panels. The fiberglass walls have polyurethane insulation with an R-value of a little over R-5; better than a tent, and there is ventilation at the top.
WiTricity to bring wireless power to home, office, public restrooms
WiTricity is working on a wireless power solution that can send power over short distances, thereby reducing the need for wires and cables. The system uses resonant magnetic coupling – essentially a form of radio trasnmission – that can send enough power to charge cellphones or run a television. The actual technology is still a ways of – near field charging will probably appear before this does – but it’s nice to know someone is trying.
“The company showed how a transmitting unit, which could be placed in a wall, could power a television set several feet away. The chief executive of the company, Eric Giler, also showed how the system could wirelessly charge a G1 cellphone equipped with an antenna unit so small it could fit inside the phone case.” [LA Times Blog]
source: cruchgear
From a Garage to a Sweet Home Office
For most of us working stiffs, we only buy or rent as much house as we deem is necessary to our lifestyles. That often means that we won’t be paying a premium to aquire an extra bedroom just to use as a home office. Most of us and our friends keep our workspaces in the bedroom or living room, but some can get creative and carve a space out of an unused closet. But why stop there? What other unused space in your home might you make your office…
He insulated, air conditioned and painted his two-car garage to be his home office slash home cinema room slash photo studio slash workshop and hack lab. He was also able to hide most of the wiring away because of the way he worked the space basically from scratch, saying he has “cAT5 everywhere, OF speaker cable in the ceiling and coax for various purposes all linked into the patch panel.” What great inspiration for making the most of an otherwise unused space.
Dr. Rabbit’s IKEA Home Office Makeover
Dr. Rabbit needed a new office in her New York apartment. What was once before was just screaming a much needed overhaul – a crowded mess of mix-matched furniture, old blinds, and a huge TV; everything had to go. After months of planning, she finally made a trip to her local IKEA and Lowes for wall paint. The result?
Being I’m an Art Director by trade, I really wanted to go with an “Artsy” feel to the room. I also wanted to open up the sliding glass door more and have the whole thing be more airy…
NC Base Superschermo 100 cupboard system by Lodovico Acerbis
Wouldn’t it be great if you could enjoy television and your home cinema at the same time without having to buy a cinema-sized flat TV? Yes, it would, and Lodovico Acerbis proves it’s quite easy to do so. The New Concept series of integrated and concealed home entertainment devices now has a new addition: presented at Milan Salone Internazionale del Mobile 2009, NC Base Superchermo 100 combines a flat TV and concealed 16:9 100″ projection screen that is automatically extractible from a cabinet. The self-wrapping screen is compatible with most common projectors and offers high efficiency and luminosity features for the perfect home entertainment experience. Needless to say, the design is outstanding.
source: Homedesignfind
Recycled Airstream RV is Now Earthy and Green
RVs are hardly the greenest of vehicles with their heavy carbon footprint — most have mileage under 9 miles to the gallon on the highway. They are surely prime targets for redemption in their afterlife.
And here’s one that in retirement from highway driving has been greened up to the most eco-conscious levels and recycled into a dwelling that is positively earthy…
Not only does Jim Gooley plan to take the Airstream entirely off-grid; producing all its own energy with solar power, but Gooley has partnered with Livingreen to detail the Airstream’s interior with all sorts of eco-conscious products:
* American Clay earth plaster walls;
* Bamboo counters and cabinets;
* Cork floor tiles throughout;
* Energy efficient LED lighting; and
* Eco-friendly fabrics and organic bed.
The renovated trailer was on display at Altbuild last weekend in Santa Monica.
This is not the first recycled trailer. Paul Villinski has also created a solar-powered, mobile artist’s studio from an old FEMA-style trailer. His Emergency Response Studio is an off-grid FEMA-style trailer that was gutted and retrofitted inside and out with everything needed to make it a zero carbon RV. But it is not an aesthetic retrofit.
By comparison with his FEMA retrofit — this green redesign is very calming. In this repurposing of an old Airstream, Jim Gooley has successfully counteracted the harshness that comes from too much aluminum which makes most RVs faintly nauseating places.
source: HomeDesignFind
Welcome Home
If an office felt more like a living room, might its occupants linger longer Offering an affirmative are Denizen case goods from Coalesse, a Steelcase division that bridges the work/life divide with flexible, residential-inspired furnishings. WilliamsSorel’s Otto Williams and Jess Sorel envisioned pieces equally palatable for home, office, or home office—nine MDF components veneered in homey oak, teak, or ash and generally supported by tubular-steel bases in chrome, brushed nickel, or five powder-coated colors.
Self-closing doors and drawers add convenience to storage units. Consider the credenza, 52 inches wide, and the cube or wardrobe storage towers, 35 or 52 inches high. A made-to-measure attitude manifests itself with the overhead compartments, in widths of 52, 72, or 96 inches, and the bench, in lengths of 72 and 96 inches; the longer version can also accommodate storage elements. Options for the tables—a round one at 48 inches in diameter and ovals at 54¼ or 72 inches long—are a white lacquered finish and integrated technology-access points. A console, a tablet table, and three secretaries round out the series.