Homecrux has left no stone unturned in bringing you the most exclusive coverage of Barkitecture 2023. From breaking the Coffey Architects’ Fetch Dog House to introducing dog and design lovers to an off-grid dog house on wheels, your favorite home decor and design magazine has led the charge before anyone else. Despite some of the mindboggling dog kennels we have covered in the past few weeks, the fuss was always about what Foster + Partners has in store for Goodwoof Barkitecture 2023. The London-based design and architecture studio finally broke the silence this week and introduced the Barc dog kennel.
It isn’t the fanciest of designs when compared to other entries with the likes of RSHP’s Poochchair and WigWag by Hall + Bednarczyk, but it isn’t that bad either. Playing along with the competition’s theme (A Companion Piece – Dogs at Work’), Foster + Partners has presented a lightweight plywood kennel that is made up of simple components.
The biggest USP of the kennel is that it can be disintegrated and integrated when not in use. Implying, the kennel can be easily put together, taken apart, and kept efficiently. Easy to store and even conceive, the dog kennel is made of all wood and sans metal construction. Even the screws used to tighten the structure are made of wood.
“Ideal for both home and office environments, Barc is inherently flexible, creating a familiar space for canine companions at their owner’s side,” mentions the company. Norman Foster, Founder and Executive Chairman of Foster + Partners, speaks about the kennel stating, “It is a delight to present our design at Goodwoof, for the second year running. We have used a refined palette of materials to create Barc, a flat pack kennel that responds to the ever-evolving nature of the workplace.”
Foster + Partners relied on Isokon, a company that is known for its expertise in plywood manufacturing, to develop high-performance structural shell. Talking of the design, the dog kennel features a single piece of extremely thin plywood that is held in tension by two opposing timber dowels. This leads to a depression in between which is the resting place for the dog while the plywood ends up becoming the striking arched roof.
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Then we have a fabric sling that is stretched across the dowels. It incorporates a sustainable cushion made from coconut husk which functions as a comfy resting place for the pooch. “The sparing use of material and detail is rooted in the idea of sustainability – to do more with less,” the company mentions. The Barc dog kennel will be on display at the Barkitecture gallery alongside other entries at Goodwoof and auctioned on Sunday 21 May by Bonhams.
