Students of the Institute of Building Structures and Structural Design [ITKE] at the University of Karlsruhe designed the project Roll it, a flexible housing for a minimum space. The tubular shape already symbolizes the mobility of the plan and, at the same time, is integrated with the elements of furniture, in the same way that Dimitrios Tsigos did with his Frame Bar some years ago.

The project was developed as part of a design competition in collaboration with the Institute for Industrial Design. The students Christian Zwick and Konstantin Jerabek won the competition with Roll it. The structure consists of an outer shell that is composed of four support rings, a torsion inner shell membrane as well as a covering. Two movable furniture roll within the solid bowl, and can be positioned differently through the middle wheel, allowing for different functions.

The outer shell

Acting as a translucent membrane, the envelops of the entire piece serves as advertising space for sponsors. Thin wooden slats that are bolted to the support rings attach the membrane to form the running surface of the roll. The inlet is a tubular ruffled membrane, which can be closed by a rubber band.

The inner shell


 

The project has four laminated OSB panels [Oriented strand board] that is is an engineered wood product formed by layering strands of wood in specific orientations. In appearance, it may have a rough and variegated surface with the individual strips lying unevenly across each other. Each OSB panel is 15 mm thick, form the wear rings.

The panels are glued together by overlapping segments of a circle to a polygon, and then formatted in a circle again. In the meanwhile, the wood-based panels of the inner shell can be cut, resulting grooves that allow the curvature of the plates. Circular openings acts in one side as a window and, in the other side, as the entrance of the Roll it.