Year: 2021
Program: Self-Constructable Bird Home
Status: Competition – Honorable Mention
What does everybody have at home, considers it waste, is a good construction and truly circular material?
CORRUGATED CARDBOARD is one of the most widely available manufactured materials on the planet. Its availability, eco-friendliness and recyclability make it an ideal material to be used in the construction of bird houses. Furthermore the reuse of leftover cardboard (packaging, moving boxes) enhances the sustainability of the whole design.
From its initial adaptable design to its final compostability and also the possibilities of usage of the compost, the birdBOX is a circular design, which can contribute to the strengthening of eco-systems during its whole life-cycle.
MASS PRODUCTION
The birdBOX can be optimized to be printed industrially on cardboard panels: a 120×120 cm panel can hold 4 entire houses, and larger quantities can be printed on a 120 cm wide strip.
A truly DIY bird house:
ADAPTABLE
The size and shape of the box and the entrance hole can be customized from a template to suit environmental requirements and better adapt to house the birds living in the region.
HOME-MADE / FACTORY-MADE
The design can be hand drawn from a digital template or pre-cut industrially on recycled cardboard.
WATERPROOF
An eco-friendly waterproof coating is added to the cardboard to make it weather resistant, either by factory production or as a paint in a home setting. Depending on the installation region a lignin-based, rubber or shellac lacquer coating can be used: these materials are natural and compostable.
EASY BUILD
The design can be cut with the simplest home tools (cutting knife, stanley knife, scissors) for ease of construction. It can also come industrially pre-cut for large scale production. Following the design instructions the three dimensional box is formed with minimal requirements of compostable adhesive.
ZERO MAINTENANCE
The bird house is installed in its location and at the optimal height for the birds it is intended for. At the end of its usage cycle the waterproofing layer gives way and bird house starts falling apart, landing from its hanging location on the ground.
COMPOSTING + SOWING
The bird house will slowly compost and decompose in the terrain. The cardboard can be embedded with seeds in order to fasten the composting process and help the propagation or repopulation of plant species.
