NEWS

FOLDA FURNITURE SERIES
NK3 Shortlisted

NK3 entered the FEEEL design competition in the Furniture design category. NK3's proposal, the FOLDA Furniture series, was selected for the shortlist of successful entries. The final winning result has not been announced yet.

The design idea of the Folda is inspired by the function of the living space, which serves as a gathering place for the home where family and friends congregate to spend quality time. A “cross” from is adopted to be the main element of the furniture, representing the convergent point of all the social activities. There are five types of furniture in the series, including sofa, lounge chair, coffee table, floor lamp and TV shelf. Each piece of furniture can be used separately or as part of a series. In terms of the structure, the nail component is eliminated and replaced by wood joints, resulting in an easy assembly process that encourages everyone to build their own furniture. The combination of planes and tubes also facilitates the efficient packaging for mass production.

The series’ material palette was carefully chosen to create a serene and welcoming atmosphere. The major wood element encourages the use of locally sourced materials, whereas the frosted glass and recycled plastic play a complementary role to blend the dark wood and metal tubes into the living space, creating harmony and balance.

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REUBEN CHOI
Becomes EDGE Expert

Congratulations to NK3's Architectural Assistant Reuben Choi who recently became an EDGE Expert following his interest in green building practices and achieving certification through successful implementation of the EDGE software. Reuben completed his education in both the UK and Hong Kong and has been with NK3 as an Architectural Assistant for 2 years. Reuben has been fundamental in helping NK3 grow their project portfolio and continues to enhance his skills in both design and modelling.

Last year, NK3 carried out Initial EDGE Assessments for the 20-bed Zimbabwe Health Centre and the 80-bed Zambia District Hospital for NMS Infrastructure. The photos on the right show images of the 80-bed Zambia District Hospital which NK3 designed for NMS Infrastructure.

I-RIS Virtual Home
NK3 Shortlisted

NK3 entered the 2022 Virtual Home design competition. NK3's proposal, the IRIS Virtual Home, was selected for the shortlist of successful entries.

In response to the competition brief, a virtual home had been designed and kept flexible for the potential to be placed in any metaverse platform. Responding to our research on the way players are using metaverse spaces, we have created a space which gives the options of escape, entertainment, socializing, working and relaxing. A vertical corridor connects the homes in strands which gives flexibility for avatars to travel to friend's homes and invite others over. To link to a strand of homes, a friend request must be accepted. The strands of homes are reflections of the relationships of the users. The homes are constantly shifting to different strands and it is not uncommon to see individual homes for those who are looking for privacy. Each home has a changeable outer context disc which allows users to choose different options for their surroundings. In the renders for this proposal, the context ring is showing a carpet of greenery studded with larger trees and bushes to give an attractive encompassing ring. The furniture of the home is fluid to suit the individual requirements or aesthetic taste. The organic furniture shown in the renders echo the sweeping concept of our home. Each home has two outdoor terraces which have the ability to move to give changing views of the city and different architectural conditions. One terrace is transportable nd moves along the transit bridges to serve as horizontal circulation between strings of homes.

CoCovid
NK3 2nd runner up in Professional Group Category

NK3 is excited to announce that our proposal ‘CoCovid’ was the 2nd runner-up in the Post-Covid furniture design competition held by the RIBA Hong Kong chapter.

Covid has changed our lives forever, and we need to adapt to the new normal and co-live with Covid. But please! No more plastic barriers! COCOVID advocates for a new way to keep distance between strangers at a mall bench when the malls return to their full capacity. The color scheme is part of a strategy to provoke a sense of funkiness that alleviates the anxiety that came with COVID. The design includes other features such as niches to hold hand sanitizers and indoor plants on the top surfaces, shoe disinfection sprays installed at the legs and hooks screwed into the sides for bag-hanging. All of these design features consider the needs of mall-goers in Hong Kong who need a few minutes to rest their feet – during this post-COVID era. A hybrid of coffee grounds, leftover foods, bio-resin and if needed, cement, can be cast into moulds to form the building blocks of this piece. Coffee grounds can be recycled from the many cafes in Hong Kong malls and mixed with the other cement for rigidity. Compressed coffee grounds alone may not be strong enough to support the weight of the seated people therefore the ratio between the coffee grounds and the cement is to be determined through tests. If possible, bio-resin can be used in place of cement, which will allow for the furniture to be completely biodegradable. Leftover food, such as colorful fruit and vegetables, can be boiled down to natural coloring extract that can dye the material.