Stockholm 2014: the founders of Swedish design studio Form Us With Love have launched BAUX, a new brand taking construction materials such as insulation and turning them into architectural features (+ slideshow).
Jonas Pettersson, John Löfgren and Petrus Palmér of Form Us With Love have teamed up with entrepreneurs Johan Ronnestam and Fredrik Franzon to take conventional architectural products and make them more visually appealing.
"To talk about beauty and construction materials is almost unheard of," Palmer told Dezeen. "We think that building materials pose one of the best opportunities for design and design thinking."
Their idea was to use materials that would normally be hidden, such as sound and heat insulation, and rework them as elements that can contribute to a design feature.
"Design hasn't been an important factor [in this industry], but what we're seeing now is that buyers such as architects or interior designers are actually asking for design values in materials that are normally purely functional," Palmér explained. "Currently no one is really meeting those demands."
The brand's inaugural product is a type of acoustic panel called wood wool. Made of spruce wood, cement and water, the sound-absorbent material also regulates heat and moisture.
Panels of wood wool are usually covered up beneath other surface finishes, but BAUX hopes architects and designers will create decorative feature walls using the colourful modular elements the company has formed from the raw material.
"At Form Us With Love we did a project with the company that makes the material a couple of years back and it was very well received," said Palmér. "The problem was that the company had trouble coping with the demand, they were used to local demand and serving local clients, and they couldn't manage."
BAUX now handles the distribution. The brand takes the material from the manufacturer, cuts it into six new shapes in two sizes and sprays them in six different colour palettes.
The panels can be backed with magnetic pads to attach them to a metal base surface, so they can be rearranged and replaced.
Pettersson, Löfgren and Palmér set up their Stockholm studio Form Us With Love in 2005. BAUX was launched during this year's Stockholm Design Week, which continues until Sunday.
Here's some more information sent us by the BAUX team:
Let us present BAUX!
BAUX is founded on the belief that building materials should be surprisingly functional and remarkably beautiful. BAUX designs, produces and markets construction materials that meet the contemporary expectations of architects, engineers and builders - without compromising safety and environmental standards.
BAUX is a joint venture between entrepreneurs Johan Ronnestam and Fredrik Franzon and the founding members of design studio Form Us With Love: Jonas Pettersson, John Löfgren and Petrus Palmér.
"We think building materials is one of the most exciting design opportuniites out there right now, we're here to explore an area where design values hasn’t been present before" - says the founding partners of BAUX.
The BAUX Träullit collection of wood wool acoustic panels is a canny combination of form and function. Available in a range of vibrant colours, the BAUX Träullit collection combines excellent sound absorption with a natural capacity for heat and moisture regulation.
BAUX Träullit panels can be combined to create remarkable structural patterns for residential, industrial or public spaces. Benefits include lower energy costs, a reduced environmental impact and a stable indoor climate.
Designed by Swedish design studio, Form Us With Love, the BAUX Träullit collection features six different geometrical shapes, available in two sizes and five colour sets, offering over 240 creative variations! Let's build!