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Alfred Outdoor Wood Oven by Benoît SEPULCHRE |
Home > Winners > Design #81468 >Interview |
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FS: What is the main principle, idea and inspiration behind your design?
BS: This design is inspired by lime-covered wood ovens. The forms also come from the technique of construction called concrete shell ... All this with the idea that the form must translate the function.
FS: What has been your main focus in designing this work? Especially what did you want to achieve?
BS: I wanted to make an outdoor wood oven that had the design codes of outdoor cooking appliances such as BBQs. But with a good safe and functional design.
FS: What are your future plans for this award winning design?
BS: Communicate with my clients and promote my design for companies.
FS: How long did it take you to design this particular concept?
BS: After the market research, a few weeks allowed me to find the idea of the concept. But it took more than 6 months to build the prototype. . . . In all, 18 months of development were necessary.
FS: Why did you design this particular concept? Was this design commissioned or did you decide to pursuit an inspiration?
BS: This project was a request from my client the French company Four Grand-Mère ... But we do not know at first what to develop. It's my market research that gave the leads.
FS: Is your design being produced or used by another company, or do you plan to sell or lease the production rights or do you intent to produce your work yourself?
BS: It is produced by the French company Four Grand-Mère which markets it in Europe and in the rest of the world with these resellers and importers.
FS: What made you design this particular type of work?
BS: The company Four Grand-Mère did not have a product "turnkey" and it was not much visible in the resellers ... it was necessary to create a product with iconic design.
FS: Where there any other designs and/or designers that helped the influence the design of your work?
BS: Of course the shape of some BBQ was present in my mind, but it is mainly the fruit of my culture and my history that allowed this result.
FS: Who is the target customer for his design?
BS: He is the lover of good cooking who already had a BBQ for about ten years and who wants to change for superior cooking experiences. . . because with a wood oven all types of cooking are possible from the shortest to the longest with a minimum of natural energy, that of wood. But young people who want to invest in a first BBQ can also buy it because it is made to last a very long time.
FS: What sets this design apart from other similar or resembling concepts?
BS: It has been thought for the users. So it is completely isolated to avoid burns. In addition a functional system allows to put accessories in front. These accessories can be used for something else, for example the wooden cutting board which also serves as a serving tray to put in the center of the table ...
FS: How did you come up with the name for this design? What does it mean?
BS: It was called ALFRED for various reasons. . . . But the desire to give this product a first name makes it possible to personify the user's relationship with it. ALFRED is then a real companion of his owner for cooking.
FS: Which design tools did you use when you were working on this project?
BS: At first it's always my pencil that I draw. Soon after I used my 3D software SolidThinking Evolve. Then the technical development continued with SolidThinking as well as with SolidWorks in the company Four Grand-Mère.
FS: What is the most unique aspect of your design?
BS: There are many ... the main ones are not too visible. This is the functional front hanging system for the wooden cutting board and other accessories ... There is also the cast iron glass door that uses the venturi effect to prevent the smoke from getting dirty.
FS: Who did you collaborate with for this design? Did you work with people with technical / specialized skills?
BS: I did the design creation work alone. However, during the development, the people of the Four Grand-Mère company as well as some subcontractors helped with the technical choice for the final design drawings.
FS: What is the role of technology in this particular design?
BS: Technology has already been used in the design with 3D software. From a more technical point of view, the materials chosen to realize the insulation of the wood oven were developed by the spatial research ... like the composite parts of the shells to last in time.
FS: Is your design influenced by data or analytical research in any way? What kind of research did you conduct for making this design?
BS: Indeed I realized research on the market, the customers, the uses, the distribution ... This is obligatory of this to realize a good design.
FS: What are some of the challenges you faced during the design/realization of your concept?
BS: Make the product safe has been very important. Thus with temperatures exceeding 500 ° C inside the oven, the outside temperature should not exceed 70 to 80 ° C. We even decide to insulate the flue with a double skin to prevent it from being too hot in accidental contact with the skin. From a more general point of view it was necessary to find the techniques and materials for the price of the product to be in the market prices of this type of premium product.
FS: How did you decide to submit your design to an international design competition?
BS: After having already been selected in the French design prize "L'Observeur du Design 2019", I wanted to look for one of the biggest internationalnal price for the Outdoor Wood Oven ALFRED because it is distributed internationally by the company Four Grand-Mère . It also allows the quality of my work to be recognized by many specialists.
FS: What did you learn or how did you improve yourself during the designing of this work?
BS: I learned that for a product as complete in the number of materials and technology used, you have to know how to take more time to test and choose the right solutions. From a management point of view, I learned to manage the fears of leaders and to accept some points of view contrary to mine ... but fortunately not all because this project would never have won a design award otherwise.
FS: Any other things you would like to cover that have not been covered in these questions?
BS: An anecdote about the quality of the product ... There is a part of the product that has too much quality. they are solid wood feet called Douglas. the choice of this essence was made to resist outside. But for the users to be reassured throughout the life of the feet and to have a more homogeneous appearance, we did an autoclave above ... it was not technically useful ... but just for the design. But for a product that has some parts guaranteed 10 years is normal to do more.
FS: Thank you for providing us with this opportunity to interview you.
A' Design Award and Competitions grants rights to press members and bloggers to use parts of this interview. This interview is provided as it is; DesignPRWire and A' Design Award and Competitions cannot be held responsible for the answers given by participating designers.
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