Helix wins first place in mattress reuse contest
Entry repurposes discarded mattresses to make acoustical panels
Furniture Today Staff -- Furniture Today, January 27, 2009
SAN FRANCISCO — Helix of Emeryville, Calif., won first place in the Discarded Dreams mattress reuse contest hosted by Rubicon National Social Innovations and Architecture for Humanity.
The contest focused on finding industrial and product design uses for the recycling and re-use of mattress and box spring composite materials.
The winning entry repurposed discarded mattresses to make acoustical panels for use as office partitions or room soundproofing, a press release said.
 An artist’s rendering of possible uses for Helix, a product made from discarded mattresses. |
A reception for winners was held last week. It showcased the winner and 20 other designs from around the world.
The competition stems out of a need for marketable, commercially viable products that Richmond, Calif.-based Rubicon National Social Innovations could test in a new mattress deconstruction facility starting up in San Jose, Calif., in conjunction with Goodwill Silicon Valley.
The competition is sponsored by Keetsa Mattress and the International Sleep Products Assn.
Second place was given to Deconstructing and Reconstructing Sleep of London, United Kingdom, for a design of a permanent shelter composed of deconstructed mattress components.
RNSI will work with the winning entrants on making products commercially viable and also on expanding awareness of mattress recycling.
Architecture for Humanity, an international non-profit organization, brings design, construction and development services to communities in need and hosts design competitions.
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