Design Indaba 08: a space-saving bed system designed Tsai Design Studio of Cape Town was name Most Beautiful Object in South Africa at the Design Indaba Expo last month.
Nested Bunk Beds consist of five mattresses on wheeled frames that can be stored against a wall during the day and telescope out to at night.
They were initially developed for a design competition that called for ways of comfortably sleeping seven people in a 6x6 metre room - a common situation in South Africa's townships and shack districts. The photos above show the beds in use at an Aids orphanage in Wellington, South Africa.
Here's some info from Tsai Design Studio:
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Too many people and not enough space are at epidemic levels in South Africa’s town ships. It’s normal for 6 to 8 people to share 36sqm of space. The Nested Bunk Bed is a winning entry for the ‘36sqm Design Challenge’, a design competition in South Africa aimed to bring better lifestyle and the best use of space to those in overcrowded, tiny, low cost houses.
The design of the Nested Bunk Bed, inspired by Matriochka Russian dolls that can unpack itself into several other dolls, is a solution that solves the sleeping arrangement in such a confined space, while able to free up space when it is not in use.
Sections of the nested bed can be pulled out to serve a number of purposes, such as a sofa for two, a grandstand seating, or as five beds, which can be packed away into a standard bunk bed area.
Each bed is fitted with standard single mattress. The length of the beds increases to allow each bed to be nested under each other, leaving some storage space on the side of the beds.
