Nuri
A space saving crib and changing table
Objective
Design an eco-friendly piece of baby furniture that provides a comforting and nurturing environment for a growing infant. Provide a quality piece of furniture that fits well into smaller spaces.
Challenge
As the team researched current baby furniture, we realized that cribs all have one common aspect, and that is the bars along the side. The team wanted to break that aesthetic and give customers a new crib experience. The team also wanted to provide a piece of furniture that could perform more than one function so as to save space in customers' homes.
Solution
Created a crib that features full acrylic sides with mesh panels to allow airflow through the crib. The team integrated a changing table into the crib so that parents don't need to purchase an additional piece of furniture. All materials were chosen with regards to effects on infant health and sustainability.
Why improve the combo crib?
Research showed that young families are often choosing to rent housing rather than purchase a home. This led us to the idea of creating baby furniture that would take up less space while providing increased functionality.
Current Solutions
Current combo cribs on the market are rather large and do not offer much in the way of space-savings. Other existing cribs are smaller, but do not offer the additional functionality of a combo crib. Finally, most cribs have a broadly similar aesthetic that the team wanted to break away from.
Sketching
Many different forms and ideas were created during the sketching phases. The team explored different ways of expanding furniture, furniture that could be used in different ways, and concepts that combined two or more pieces of furniture into one design. Below are some of my initial ideation sketches.
Concept Refinement
Based on the team’s discussions and initial sketches, the team refined concepts looking at different ways of creating multi-use cribs. Along with this, developing a simple, elegant aesthetic was important to the team.
Final Concept Design
Revised Final Concept
Based on feedback from parents, mesh side panels were added to the final design to increase airflow throughout the crib.
Rotating Changing Table
The crib features a changing table rotates out of the way when not in use, saving space in smaller living areas.
Sleek and secure
Nuri uses acrylic sides with mesh panels to eliminate the bars that are typical of current cribs while still allowing the infant to see out and view their world. The bent wood structure gives a sense of coziness and security.
Materials Research
Chosen for aesthetics, infant health and comfort, and sustainability.
We researched many different materials in order to pick ones that would be easily recyclable and that wouldn't cause any issues with infant health. Below are the final materials that we picked for the different parts of the crib.
Ease of Recycling
Nuri is designed to be easily disassembled into its basic components for easy recycling. Simply remove the bolts from the ends of the support rods and slide the rods from the brackets. The brackets can then be unscrewed from the wooden structure and the changing table removed from its hinge. Finally the mattress and the soft pad on the changing table can be removed. Once the mesh panels are popped out of the acrylic sides, the pieces can be reused or recycled.
Project Notes
Team Members: Jonathan Comeau, Sam Fear, Isabel Nava, Chandler Davis, Eric Primo
Project Duration: Five weeks
My Role: Sketching and Ideation, Materials Research, Rendering