xLocker2 Silver Winner at DRIVENxDESIGN Awards
16 . 08 . 2017
xLocker2 wins silver at the DRIVENxDESIGN awards in Sydney. DRIVENxDESIGN celebrates the courage of those who commission design and those who create it, providing a collaborative platform of award programs supported by the world’s most creative minds and organisations.
The product design ‘office’ award category acknowledges creative and innovative design within commercial office applications. Consideration was given to designs that relate to human usage, aesthetics, selection of components and materials, and the resolution of assembly, manufacturing and the overall function.
Award winners were drawn from across Sydney’s diverse design economy with awards received by big corporates through and boutique design studios alike. Design winners included Frost Design, Luchetti Krelle and Cord & Berg. In total 52 Gold and 91 Silver Awards were announced in diverse categories ranging from architecture and interior design to graphic and digital design.
Now in its seventh year, the Sydney Design Awards has recognised hundreds of outstanding design projects, the quality of which continues to increase and challenge the status quo. The award trophies will be presented at a cocktail function held in conjunction with Schiavello in Surrey Hills on 29 August.
Silver Winner: Product Design Office Category
xLocker2 is a dynamic product that provides future-proofing solutions for the activity-based workplace. xLocker2 is designed with the end-user in mind and can be customized with a choice of colours and finishes, optional perforations, laminate or veneered doors and various locking systems.
xLocker2 provides the interior design practitioner with a flexible locker system that is scalable as requirements change. Components can be reused and reconfigured to create different unique layouts while the modular steel construction brings strength and durability.
Designed by Planex Sales & Planex Design
Leo Ryner is an industrial designer with a background in naval architecture and furniture design. Jean-Pierre Jardel came to Planex and office furniture manufacturing from a background in scientific research.
Leo and Jean-Pierre met in the mid-1990s while both were sitting on a Standards Australia Steering Committee for the development of product standards. Having collaborated on numerous projects for close to 20 years Leo and Jean-Pierre decided to share their visions and co-founded Planex Design in 2012. The purpose was to create an independent design entity dedicated to developing and producing products that take a fresh look at existing market needs.
The strategic aim was to introduce a point of difference, refine products and repurpose existing offerings in ways that would excite and delight all stakeholders rather than pursue the prevalent obsession of importing and promoting me-too products that seemed to be flooding the market.
“There are too many copies in the Australian market and companies should have the confidence and conviction to step out of the mould and try something new” – Leo Ryner
“Always thinking about our clients’ needs means that we have to remain creative if we want to thrive and develop in a highly competitive environment” – Jean-Pierre Jardel
xLocker2 Project Brief
The product had to be simple with a minimum number of parts that were integrated to create a fully resolved entity regardless of installation size. It had to be aesthetically pleasing for architects and designers to want to use it as a feature element in a grand design and for the agile worker to use it for their daily needs.
The product had to allow for individualisation yet remain simple. Each unit needed to be a visually distinct standalone module yet still be able to be joined to its neighbour to form an integrated locker bank. The locker also had to meet international standards for fitness-for-use and environmental criteria.
Design Challenge
As the office landscape evolved, Planex was keen to expand its extensive range of quality storage products. we saw a need in the office landscape for a unique steel personal storage solution for flexible, agile, activity-based working (ABW) environments or end-of-journey storage for commuters and mobile workers that wasn’t being filled with the current offerings.
Planex saw the opportunity to manufacture a unique product that was specifically designed to aid collaboration, drive productivity, maximize space and provide better flexibility than traditional locker storage and provide users with personal solutions to solving the problems associated with individual storage needs in communal multi-purpose work environments.
xLocker2 also needed to meet Planex’s own product philosophy by being capable of being:
- reused
- reconfigured
- repurposed
- recycled
It needed a fresh unique design with associated intellectual property protection that would deter the usual local and overseas replica suppliers that characterize our market. And it had to take advantage of Planex Sale’s sophisticated manufacturing methods by focusing on elegance, simplicity, minimalism and technological novelty which deters blatant copying.
Project Innovation/Need
xLocker2 is like a child’s building block and joins together with a patented system allowing fast onsite assembly and simple later reconfiguration and reuse. This also means less disruption when installing in existing workplaces.
Cable Ready
xLocker2 allows reticulation of data cabling to locks and soft wiring for recharging personal devices. The unique integrated cavity between units provides cabling pathways. There is no need for separate ducting or conduits—xLocker2 is the conduit. xLocker2 units sit on bases that allow levelling, data and power cabling to be hidden and accessed via a removable panel.
Locking
The xLocker2 system is open-sourced when it comes to locks being flexible and designed to be compatible with most forms of locking. Specifiers and users are not limited to any specific locking system.
Custom Options
The modular nature of xLocker2 means that it can be used to create a space that best reflects the client’s cultural and social presence. Designers can use the modularity of xLocker2 to create unique outcomes using various colours, shades and powder coat textures to form a variegated mosaic. Doors and body colours can be different.
Steel doors can be perforated to individualize the fit-out, and match other Planex products or architectural details, in order to create visual differentiation. Lockers can be fitted with acoustic rated sound-absorbing material to minimise the noise in the workspace. Other materials such as laminate, or ply doors can personalize the fit-out.
Sustainability
Unlike joinery and conventional locker systems xLocker2 has the following environmental advantages:
- It can reduce the amount of new non-renewable resources needed for manufacturing. Manufacture does not require the use of solvents, formaldehyde, toxic resins, adhesives or VOC.
- It can be reused, reconfigured and repurposed. This extends the longevity of the fit-out and unlike fixed joinery, they can be simply relocated to a new site if required.
- It can be fully recycled and not end up as landfill.
- It can replace the use of un-recyclable MDF, engineered and man-made boards used in joinery fit-outs.
- xLocker2 has been tested by Furntech-AFRDI Approved to AFRDI Standard 150:2012(Mar) – Sustainability Standard: Commercial Furniture and meets AFRDI Level: B – Gold (recognised as GBCA Level A).