Farewell to Sam

We are sad to announce that today is the final day at Shoebox Homes for Sam Adams, our Project Manager.

Sam has been with Shoebox Homes for over a year and has had a huge impact on the organisation. He has facilitated the delivery of beds to over 60 families/homes and he has had a massive impact on our organisational structure. For this, and your friendship, Sam, we are truly indebted. We wish you the absolute best for the future.

(Sam's absense will mean less posting until further notice...Thanks!)

CPUT Students working with Shoebox

On Monday, Shoebox Homes gave a presentation to a class at the Cape Peninsula University of Technology (CPUT). It was a group of roughly 30 students, all in their third year in the department of design.

These students are going to be spending the next 4-6 weeks researching and designing new products for the Shoebox Homes range! We are thrilled for this opportunity to connect with some talented young designers. They are working on a design brief that will expand our range with space-saving, low-cost furniture that is suitable for the mass market.

What is also great is that we at Shoebox can offer the students an entry point into the design market. The products that match the brief will be manufactured by Shoebox and marketed across the country. The students will then be paid on a royalty basis. This is a win win situation!

Competition!

entries should be emailed to info@shoeboxhomes.co.za

2009 for Shoebox Homes

What's in store for us for 2009?

NEW PRODUCTS BY NEW DESIGNERS!

Earlier this year we conducted some research in a few disadvantaged communities. We asked residents their furniture needs and preferences. With this information we have formed an exciting design brief that will be sent to designers across South Africa and beyond.

These designers will submit new space-saving furniture designs for Shoebox to market and manufacture and deliver to those living in over-crowded spaces. We are excited to see the new designs and believe there is a wealth of untapped design potential in this field.

Here are some current design ideas that we like at the moment:

Shoebox Year Ending

Shoebox Homes is quiet at the moment... We pack up our office for the summer holidays next week, reopening on 8th January. As we begin to look back at 2008, wee see that it has been a full year and that great strides forward have been taken. We have:

• Finalised the design of the Nested Bunk Bed
• Found an excellent manufacturer (Woodform)
• Researched (and are developing) other space-saving furniture
• Qualified, if not won, 5 prestigious design awards
• Manufactured 40 of the bed units: a total of 200 beds!
• Distributed the beds to over 55 homes across South Africa
• Created safe, comfortable, dry, and spacious sleeping conditions that benefit approx. 300 children!
  

This is a huge impact!

To the Shoebox team of management, manufacturers, fundraisers, assemblers, and drivers, well done! You can be proud of the amazing impact you've had on this exciting journey!

And to the many wonderful funders, thank you for your generousity. Your contribution has made all of this possible and has been an integral part of the development and delivery of the bunk beds.

2009 holds many dreams for us as Shoebox Homes... More about that in the next post...

Focus on: Ashley Stemmett

Ashley Stemmett is currently the DIY editor at Home Magazine - SA's leading Decor, DIY, Gardening and Food magazine. He has a long history in design and is particularly interested in multifunctional furniture and how it can benifit the lives of people living in particularly small spaces. His involvement with Shoebox Homes followed the 36sqm Challenge - where he was one of the 'judges' on behalf of Home magazine. He now enjoys the exciting collaboration with Aram, Charles, Sam and Tsai and looks forward to seeing how Shoebox Homes products will benefit communities in the future.

Here's an example of Ash's great work: a beautiful multi-purpose coffee table and storage facility:

Third Bed to Bathandwa Children's Home

It is with great joy that we delivered the third bed to Bathandwa Children's Home this week. Our generous donor, Mr John Philips, kindly sponsored the bed that went upstairs in the room of the older children. It has replaced old and damaged beds that the children used to sleep on.

I had the pleasure of meeting Mr Philips just two weeks ago, during a visit of his to Cape Town. I showed him the beds installed at Bathandwa. Thank you, John, again for your support and generousity.

Last Bed for 2008!
Sadly, this is the last bed to be installed for 2008. We are awaiting new funding before we can start manufacturing the next order of beds. Over 90 requests for beds are pending!

Here are the pics of the new Nested Bunk Bed at Bathandwa:

Shoebox Goes Green with the AgriPlanner Course!

This week I (Sam) was at a fantastic Agri-Business course. Designed and run by the South African Institute of Entrepreneurs, I was thoroughly impressed with teh course content and the experiential way it was presented.

Agriplanner trains small-scale farmers to make a living from their land. We learnt basic farming skills such as what crops to grow in Cape Town and how long each one takes before giving a 'return'. We were actually being trained to train others, so we were also taught how to pass on these skills as well as other 'go to market' strategies.

At Shoebox, we aim to support people living in overcrowded and disadvantaged communities. With the Agriplanner course content, we are excited to explore the possibility of supporting individuals to make a living from their small gardens.

Any thoughts or suggestions? Write a comment or send us an email!

Exciting New Products at Headspace at CPUT

Today I was at Headspace - an exhibition of work from CPUT students. CPUT, the Cape Peninsula University of Technology, have a great design department and I have enjoyed connecting with some of the staff and students.

Of particular interest, of course, was the space-saving designs. I saw some great work by the students. Interestingly, all of it was made of Xanita, or X-Board. This is a recycled, low-cost board that is made just outside of Cape Town. I am not convinced of it's long term durability, however, it is great to see such an innovation in this area.

Here are some pics (low-res), of the students' work:

Black Umbrella's New Site

Our sister organisation, Black Umbrellas, launched their website this week. They are a great organisation - supporting emerging black business in their formative stages. There is such a crucial need for this in South Africa. Shoebox Homes is so proud to be associated with Black Umbrellas. Check out the site by clicking on the logo below:

Focus On: Y. Tsai

Y. Tsai is a Cape Town-based architect who runs Tsai Design Studio. He is the designer of our main product - the Nested Bunk Bed. He also contributed to Aram's moving wall idea by detailing some of Aram's concepts.

Tsai sits on the board of Shoebox Homes and is a key contributor to the activities of our organisation. We are always making demands on him for new designs, assembly instructions for the beds, and countless other tasks! Check out his website here.

Focus On: Sam Adams

Sam Adams is the Project Manager at Shoebox Homes. He is responsible for managing the manufacturing of the Nested Bunk Bed, the delivery to end users, and all the nitty-gritty responsibilities along the way!

Sam has added significantly to the organisation since his arrival in April. His management skills have greatly increased the output and successful activities of Shoebox. Here's a picture of Sam at our storeroom in Woodstock.

Focus On: Charles Maisel

Charles Maisel is the brains behind Shoebox Homes. It was his idea of providing space-saving furniture and design solutions to disadvantaged communities that led to the birth of Shoebox.

Charles is a well known and award-winning Social Entrepreneur. He likes to be called a 'Serial Social Entrepreneur'. Shoebox Homes is just one of many projects that Charles has either successfully started, or is currently developing. He is an exciting man to be around, full of energy, dynamism, and contagious creativity!

He is part of the prestigious Ashoka Fellowship. Click here to read more.

Focus on: Aram Lello

Today's post is focussing on one of our team members - Aram Lello. Aram is an architect at DHK and is based in Cape Town. He is on the board of Shoebox Homes and has been intrinsically involved with our organisation right from the beginning.

One of Aram's key inputs to Shoebox Homes was his winning entry to the 36 sq/m challenge (the competition looked for innovative space-saving design solutions to 36sq/m low-cost housing).

His 'Mobile Space' concept consists of a movable wall, that runs on ceiling rails and floor wheels. The wall divides a bedroom and a living area, allowing each space to be used flexibly, as required by the home owner.



The wall also contains cupboards and a murphy-type bed that folds down when needed. See the following pics:




In fact, the whole house was revamped as part of the competition.

Before:



After:

Woodform Factory - Staff

Here's a few pics of the great staff over at Woodform/Simco. These are the guys responsible for manufacturing the Nested Bunk Bed.

Hilton and Leanne:


Dom with the CDC machine:


Loading at the factory: