Huron School Cubbies

Type:
Furniture

Team:
Denegri Bessai Studio

Location:
Toronto, ON

Photography:
Alan Hamilton,
Scott Norsworthy

Huron Public School in Toronto required a new arrangement of cubbies near the front entrance for the temporary storage of lost and found items. Our concept was to create a utilitarian object that would also function as a design piece while engaging the curiosity of the children, so that they might ask about the piece and learn from it.

The cubbies replaced an old shelving unit and coat rack that had been located in a back hallway. Since the new cubbies were to be placed in the school’s entryway, it needed to display the temporary items without detracting from the school’s character.

The unit has a regular order of rows and columns of storage cubbies based on a diagrid. This order is softened, stretched and deformed to create the sense of flux and movement without compromising order and utility. We used parametric software to design and test the unit, and to govern the individual pieces for fabrication and assembly. The final design emerged after a period of testing and prototyping, both at a model scale and at full scale. Each piece is numbered in the digital model and as physical output, and kids, staff and parents can use the numbering system to identify items by cubby.

With Huron Cubbies, we created a showpiece that would fulfill its purpose and be a welcoming object of contemporary design for parents and children.