cnc cutting — Now — Studio Ben Allen

Screen House

Our project Screen House that was featured in Dezeen last year is due to be featured in the upcoming book HomeWork which is due to be published this autumn by Thames & Hudson.

Using a traditional cellular layout of a mid 19th century regency villa in North London as a base the movable screens allow different degrees of separation whilst maintaining visual connections afforded by the perforated screens. The screen perforations were parametrically designed using a pattern which allowed more open area where privacy was less critical and less where privacy was more important.

Proposal / 2013/2014 / Designed in collaboration with Ricardo Gomes of KWY / Engineering assistance: Art-Engineering / Photos by Frida Gregersen

10m Bridge

This research project, undertaken with Ricardo Gomes of KWY, considered how to create a 10 metre long bridge from 10mm thick laser or CNC cut sheet material. The pattern is based on a wrought iron lattice traditionally used in fences and gates in English garden design as well as for larger structures. The pattern modification has been the result of a detailed investigation involving both “finite element” structural studies and parametric modelling to vary the pattern shape and size. This formulation allows for the removal of the most material where the stresses are lowest and the least where they are highest. A plywood prototype of the bridge was built for KWY’s exhibition Techne at the Den Frie museum in Copenhagen in 2014.