Carry-Out Caddy - Transforming your garden into a fifth room

Carry-Out Caddy Transforming your garden into a fifth room

Contents Introduction

pg 3

Analogous Products

pg 5

What makes the ‘heart’ of the home?

pg 6

Identifying the User

pg 7

Analysis from Interviews

pg 9

What is the ‘Fifth Room’?

pg 11

Creating a ‘Fifth Room’ to embrace outdoor space Design Values

pg 12

Initial Ideation

pg 14

Desk Panel Development

pg 15

Carry-Out Caddy Development

pg 17

Carry-Out Caddy Refinement

pg 19

Carry-Out Caddy Key Features

pg 25

CAD Rendered Caddy

pg 27

Caddy in Situ

pg 30

Acknowledgements

pg 33

Introduction Using our outdoor space at home has become increasingly popular due to current circumstances. Creating a ‘fifth room’ that acts as both a place to work and relax could encourage people to take advantage of their outdoor space.

Even the smallest creations and changes in outdoor furniture could transform the way in which people use their space. The vast range of outdoor capacity creates limitations for the project.

With this comes opportunity to create not just a seating area, but a place to work or unwind. Aiming to enhance outdoor furniture to meet the new demands of today’s society.

Research

05 Analogous Products

Due to the current pandemic, the sales in garden furniture have vastly increased as more and more people want to make the most out of their outdoor spaces at home.

This years top garden furniture pieces have revealed a trend in earthy, organic and timeless aesthetics. With more earthy materials such as wood and rattan to more modern and contemporary steel styles, garden furniture can be very versatile in both form and function. The majority of 2020s best-sellers have an organic and natural shape, reflecting the nature it is surrounded by and often are made from rattan and wood.

A few unique pieces include more vibrant tones such as oranges, yellows and blues, bringing a splash of colour to the outdoors

Throughout history, the heart of the home has adapted to society’s constant change in family dynamics. Needs and lifestyles within the home have resulted in a shift of focus on family life in specific rooms in our homes. Originally being a family space to socialise and relax, the living room was once the heart of the home; a place where family can come together to spend quality time. The kitchen, on the other hand, was primarily a place to cook in which the space was limited due to a lack of socialisation.

What makes the ‘heart’ of the home?

However, as family life has changed through time, modern day architecture has therefore adapted to the desire to socialise in a larger kitchen/dining space, rather than in a living room. With kitchen diners now being designed for between 5-10 people, the heart of the home has shifted due to these societal changes and wants for healthier living.

Ultimately, the ‘heart’ of any home, is the space where families can come together to spend quality time, whether this consists of working or socialising. An outdoor ‘fifth room’ could become the heart of the home by incorporating an open-plan multifunctional space in which families can work and socialise in, in the comfort of their gardens.

Identifying the User Garden Elders Garden elders are keen gardeners who use their outdoor spaces to entertain family and friends in their spare time. Usually interested in eco-friendly products, they take pride in their gardens which showcase flora and fauna as well as comfortable garden furniture. Considering 60% of garden elders using their gardens as a space to watch and observe wildlife, it is important that their garden furniture is both wildlife and environmentally friendly. Also ensuring that the garden furniture they buy is easy to assemble and use is essential in order not to deter them from buying new furniture pieces. A space that can accommodate to their want for both relaxation and gardening activities is important to provide stimulation in their spare time whilst ensuring they have time to spend with family and friends.

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Working From Home As a result of the Covid-19 pandemic, people across the nation have been forced to work from home. With a lack of essential facilities to complete work has been a common issue whilst working from home. Basic necessities such as efficient space and detachment from home life can affect the standard of work due to increased chance of distraction and a lack of individual space. The opportunity to turn peoples’ gardens and outdoor spaces into a ‘fifth room’ in which they can successfully work in could potentially enhance the quality of life at home whilst providing a separate space to focus on work. Although garden furniture currently on the market may not be suitable to use in a working environment, the development of the ‘fifth room’ could provide people working from home with new and improved garden furniture to create a space in which work and family life can be combined or separated to meet the needs of the new way of living during the pandemic.

Family Focus One of the main consumers of garden furniture is families with young children and full-time jobs according to Zest4Leisure. These families tend to use their gardens for a variety of activities in everyday life, ranging from a place where their children can learn and play to an entertainment and relaxation space for family and friends.

Statistics provided from Zest4Leisure have shown that their Grow-Your-own products have doubled in sales since the Covid-19 outbreak as families have more time to spend in their gardens together. However, 78% of this user group use their gardens as a space to relax as they have a higher disposable income and so can put their money back into family life. This means they will be more likely to spend more on garden furniture that will bring a new life to their gardens, providing a space for both family and entertainment purposes.

Why do people want to work outdoors?

• Fresh air from being outside prevents the feeling of lethargy • Less distractions - stripped back to basics where there is little technology and opportunities to procrastinate • Being out in the open decreases feeling of claustrophobia. Therefore enhancing motivation and a better mindset to lengthen time spent working • Freedom of open space takes away restrictions of how you want to work for example, no limit of a small floor or desk space.

• No concern for cleanliness and upkeep unlike the need to hoover and dust surfaces and floors indoors.

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Issues with working outdoors • Shelter - protection from weather elements for •

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example, rain and wind is essential to get the maximum usage from working outdoors Limited space - with such a range of space in gardens and porches in both rural and urban environments, limited space therefore limits the range of activities possible Heating - one of the main reasons that deters people from working outdoors is the cold harsh weather in winter months which limits the time people want to spend outdoors Lighting - a lack of sufficient lighting in winter months result in the time spent outdoors being limited, for example, in winter the sun sets around 5pm and so workers wouldn’t have a choice but to work indoors.

Storage - a key issue with being outdoors is the lack of internal storage within furniture. When working outdoors, essential items including laptops, phones and paperwork must be protected from rain and dirt for example.

Opportunities to adapt to the outdoors

Evaluation

• Incorporating basic essentials from the indoors in the outdoors such as lighting, heating and shelter will maximise the length of time people have to work in their ‘fifth room’ outside.

• Existing outdoor furniture could be adapted to extend its usage by simply offering the addition of electrical ports, for example, in order to make the users’ garden a suitable place to work.

By taking the key elements of the indoors outdoors, people’s gardens can be adapted to suit a working and social space. The want to work outdoors in a ‘fifth room’ indicates the advantages of working outdoors, possibly improving attention span and mental health. In order to meet the needs and wants of the user, considering the reasons why gardens are desirable to use as a work/ social space, will drive design work to facilitate the indoor essentials such as lighting and storage to then create a fifth room which combines the key elements of the indoors and outdoors together.

Analysis from Interviews

What is the ‘Fifth Room’?

Creating a ‘fifth room’ in which people can work and socialise in by adapting their space outdoors will enhance life at home during the current pandemic. Incorporating the feeling of community and family within gardens should encourage families to use their outdoor spaces more and use it as their ‘fifth room’ instead of a seasonal-only space. Therefore bringing the essentials of the indoors to the outdoors such as storage, heating and lighting is important in order to maximise the quality time spent outside.

Incorporating the basic needs of comfort from the indoors into a new outdoor space, that creates a feeling of motivation and productivity whilst having the opportunity to provide a social space, will ensure people’s gardens will no longer be a wasted space in winter months as it takes on the role of the ‘fifth room’. The ‘fifth room’ is therefore a space in which families and friends can use as a place to work or socialise in their gardens without the limitations that the outdoors usually brings. Using research on trends and analogous products should shape the aesthetics of the ‘fifth room’ to ensure the room will not only be desirable in terms of function but also form.

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Comfort in Cold Weather Data collected from a varied target audience highlighted the importance of cold weather in winter months and how this is one of the main factors that deters them from spending more time outdoors. The combination of cold and dark nights in winter months makes it difficult to relax outside. Incorporating a source of heat and light in outdoor space is therefore essential for design work as this will encourage more people to use their gardens in winter, despite rain and early dark nights.

Space Saving Opportunities In order to make the most out of smaller spaces, making furniture easy to store or even being able to store things within it would be beneficial.

Considering unconventionally shaped gardens that can be awkward to cater to, finding a way to maximise the usage of space by either using furniture as a multifunctional storage space or being able to store the furniture when wanted could appeal to a wider target audience.

Maximising Quality Time With a lack of essential indoor facilities such as electricity and light sources in the outdoors, the time spent in gardens is limited, especially in winter months.

Finding a way to use the space for a longer period of time and for a wider range of activities, whether this be to relax, work or entertain, would make people’s gardens less of a wasted space for the majority of the year. Ensuring that the space in gardens is used to its maximum capacity would make being in the outdoors more enjoyable as it is offers a sense of escapism in your own home.

Creating a ‘Fifth Room’ to embrace outdoor space

Design Values

Ideation and Development

During initial ideation, experimentation with items that can be carried from indoors to outdoors were tested. The idea behind this was to make it easier for the user to take their belongings to their gardens with ease.

Focusing on people working from home, incorporating this into an existing desk or re-designing desk legs in order to accommodate to this was explored. For example, in these sketches, holes and spokes have been added onto desk legs as panels to enable the user to hook small compartments of their stationery on.

Initial Ideation

14

Desk Panel Development

After in-depth research on ergonomics of an average male and female, comfortable reach points on the side of a desk were established in order to experiment with interesting forms that a panel can resemble.

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An iterative sketch process was essential to find forms that are both comfortable and beneficial for the user, whilst being aesthetically pleasing and innovative. Even the smallest variations of this panel were explored in order to get maximum usage out of the reach points found in the ergonomics.

Rather than this panel being a whole table leg, this idea was developed as a detachable piece to an existing desk, ensuring the user would only have to buy the additional fixing and panel instead of a whole new desk.

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The idea behind was this is that the fixing could be added to any form of furniture, both inside and outside so that the user can hang their essentials on it and transfer their life from indoors to outdoors with ease.

Taking inspiration from existing products such as toolboxes and makeup caddy’s, this box was developed to offer the user a place to work and store their stationery in one place that can be easily carried from indoors to outdoors.

Carry-Out Caddy Development

Incorporating legs into this design would increase the box’s versatility allowing the user to take it out as a small side table or something to sit on an existing desk or garden table.

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Experimentation with handles and placement of drawers and compartments was essential in order to enable the user to get maximum storage and usage out of the space provided.

This caddy includes a moveable platform, side drawer, paper tray and a retractable platform.

19

The idea of rope handles adds to the natural elements of the outdoors and so would fit in perfectly in anyone’s garden or outdoor space

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Carry-Out Caddy Refinement The Carry-Out Caddy allows the user to store their essentials needed for work, for example, in the storage compartments and take them outside with ease.

The moveable platform provides two surfaces to utilise however preferred; this could be a platform to rest a laptop on whilst writing on the box’s surface, ore merely another level to rest a coffee on whilst in use.

Not only does this caddy provide multiple purposes, it comes with fold-able detachable legs that place the caddy at a comfortable height to work on next to your existing outdoor furniture pieces

Making and Manufacture

Carry-Out Caddy Working Prototype

Carry-Out Caddy

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Key Details

The top platform is the main feature of this product.

With a simple mechanism, the platform can be raised smoothly to provide an extra surface to make use of when working. The height of the platform is at a comfortable level for the user, making working outdoors more enjoyable and easy.

A small pull-out draw is provided on the left side of the caddy. Although it seems small at first glance, it has a good depth and is capable of holding basic stationery essentials.

Without a stopper that allows it to slide out of the caddy, it enables the user to have full usage of the space provided and adds to ease of use.

A small rope-tied handle is attached to increase grip of the draw and to keep in the natural theme.

On the right side of the caddy, an easy-grab tab reveals an extended platform. This feature adds useful surface area to the caddy which the user can utilise however wanted. For example, a computer mouse or just a cup of coffee can be placed on this to free up valuable space on the main body.

The smallest, yet very handy, compartment in this caddy is a paper tray at the bottom. The ergonomic finger groove allows the user grab any paperwork with ease and slide any unused slim objects inside. Storing paperwork in this compartment eliminates the risk of weathering such as wind and rain damage.

Collapsible legs come with this caddy to provide the user with a small side-table feel to go with their current garden furniture. The caddy can be easily disguised as a piece of furniture with these legs and also enable to user to take the caddy from indoors to outdoors with ease.

In further developments of this, the legs could be adjustable to suit the height of the user.

Carry-Out Caddy Lookalike Model

To achieve an aesthetically accurate model, Solidworks was used in order to create a realistic version of what the Carry-Out Caddy would look like if sold by Zest4Leisure.

Taking inspiration from some of Zest4Leisure’s current products, ideally this Caddy would be manufacture from planks of wood which have been replicated in this CAD render. Using a darker wood gives this product some sophistication and fits in with current trends.

27 This exploded view displays each component of the product in order to prepare for manufacture of the working prototype. Each part has been dimensioned accurately to make production quick and easy.

28 The following renders show the product in it’s front view, both open and closed, to get an idea of how it would look when in and out of use.

With the ability to be expanded and compact, the user can adjust the caddy to their needs, making it as small or big as desired.

The moveable platform doesn’t extend too far to increase the product’s balance on the detachable legs and to keep it within a comfortable distance of reach for the user.

Carry-Out Caddy in Situ

Caddy in Situ The Carry-Out Caddy has been designed for use in the garden and outdoor spaces for people working from home.

It provides a simple solution to taking all of the essentials a person needs to do work outside with ease.

It’s dimensions are small enough for it to sit next to a lounge chair comfortably whilst providing a perfect surface area to make notes on paper or to sit a laptop on.

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31 Testing the caddy out in situ was essential to get an idea of how the user would utilise each component with everyday objects and essentials for work. The Carry-Out Caddy was successful in withstanding the weight of multiple items and was the perfect size for a laptop.

The moveable platform increases the height of the surface for the user and is easy to make compact and carry from indoors to outdoors.

The Carry-Out Caddy has been specially designed to accommodate to the essential items that people need in order to work outdoors. All of the key features offer a new way of working from home in the comfort of your garden, holding the basic necessities in order to make transferring your indoors to the outdoors. Just by standing the box on the legs and opening what the caddy has to offer, this product transforms your garden space into an outdoor office.

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Caddy in Situ

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Authored and Illustrated by Sian Davies 2021