inflatables: a collection of concepts & ideas

concept 1: pop-up greenhouse

This concept deals with the of pop-up greenhouses. The aim was to create a tent-like structure, which is actively filled by air pressure and can be placed minimal use of materials.

Pop-Up greenhouse consists of the foil outer skin, flexible base and wind station.The outer skin is made of ETFE foil and forms chambers, which are filled with a pressure of 0.0035 bar. Due to the pressure in the chambers, the typical shape of the structure is formed.

mockup rendering

The outer skin only provides a space structure, the ground underneath can be used directly or raised beds can be placed inside.
Alternatively, the whole concept can be used for other purposes e.g. excavations or sport events.

wind station

The wind station houses the generator, batteries and compressors. Compressed air hoses can be connected to the station and electricity can be taken from it. At the beginning the dome is filled once, the compressors supply the dome afterwards constantly with low pressure.
The accumulators provide capacity for about 30kWh and are installed in a rack system.The whole station stands on a poured concrete foundation base.


concept 2: diy sauna

sauna

After a long experiment phase we wanted to give our inflatables a usecase. After a idea phase we came up with the sauna concept. We built a structure which is powered by a fan heater. The structure is more detailt explaint in the documentation.
One detail is a simple air lock wich keeps the structure tight even if a person phases the air lock.

fire

How to get the heat in the structur?

You can put granite stone in a fire. Granite stone will take the energy from the fire without bursting. This is important to know because other stones in a fire can get dangerous. After a heating phase the granite stone get shoveld into a steel bucket. The filled bucket can now be carried in the inflatable.

sauna infusions

Arriving in the inflatable you can enjoy a really good sauna experience. With mint leaves or fir branches on the granit stones the sauna infusions get even better.