Young Inventor Branches Out with Treehouse Design

Tuesday, 4 August, 2015

Young Inventor Branches Out with Treehouse Design

A treehouse platform for kids to build architectural wonders in their backyard has won a Kiwi inventor the top prize in the New Zealand leg of the fifteenth James Dyson Award, a global product design competition that celebrates, encourages and inspires the next generation of design engineers.

Jason Khoo, a 24 year old industrial design graduate from Massey University, has designed a pre-built foundation for a tree house that can be easily mounted without going through the labour of traditional building methods. It retains the fun of a DIY project, without causing harm to the tree. Jason takes a prize of $5,200 to help commercialise his invention.

His design eliminates the need for a bespoke permanent attachment when building tree houses, allowing the Tree Mount to be relocated. The bracket mount is supplied while families can create their own designs and source treehouse materials.

The Auckland designer says his design is intended to connect people back to nature and encourage kids to spend more time in the outdoors.

“I spent my childhood riding bikes and climbing trees. Now society is too busy and technology is now limiting self-time. I hope Tree Mount will counter this by giving people a purpose for taking time out to enjoy nature, use their creative minds and build something with their hands.

“I’m really interested in how design can utilise new technologies for products that can be used in nature, while still retaining a level of craftsmanship,” says Jason.

The judges were unanimous in their decision. Mike Jensen, head judge, said Jason’s design changes current culture, engaging creativity to experience adventure and more outdoor play for families.

“In a current environment where we have so much digital distraction, this is a welcome break for parents and kids.

“Interestingly Jason didn’t start out designing a tree house product. A bit like how James Dyson created the first bagless vacuum out of his need for a vacuum to clean properly, Tree Mount addresses a need get more people outdoors and using their hands and creativity. The prototype is well resolved; actually Jason’s model is amazing and for a student project, Tree Mount shows a strong understanding of aesthetic design,” said Mike.

Jason has won $5,200[1] from the James Dyson Foundation, and an official fee prize package from the Intellectual Property Office of New Zealand (IPONZ) tailored to his design’s intellectual property needs, and a year’s membership to The Designer’s Institute.

Supported by the James Dyson Foundation, the international design award is run in 20 countries and recognises emerging designers who have developed inventions reflect the Dyson design philosophy, to make products that solve everyday problems.

Five New Zealand entries, including Jason’s design and two runner up products, will progress to the international James Dyson Award competition – all have a chance to win the grand winner’s prize of $67,000[2] to put towards commercialising the idea, plus another $11,000[3]for the designer’s university.

The international winner will be selected by inventor of the bagless vacuum, James Dyson and announced on 10 November 2015.

While Jason has created a full size model, Tree Mount is at concept stage only and has not been commercialised. See it here: Tree Mount

The NZ Runners-up

Triple Skin BMX Helmet by Wellington designer, Philip Leyten

Twenty four year old Massey University design graduate with honours, Philip Leyton, designed the Triple Skin BMX Helmet after seeing riders at the bike park risk head injury from incorrectly wearing their traditional helmets or not wearing one at all.

He says there is an issue for current helmets to be ill-fitting or lacking in style, an important consideration for BMX riders. His solution is a one-size-fits-all helmet that utilises a tension system so wearers can fully adjust the shape of his ventilated design to their head. It also features a segmented design, allowing each segment to move on impact through a three-stage system. The outer shell disperses the main impact, moving to absorb energy and dampening the force while minimising any rotational force. The styrene middle layer absorbs the major force, with an EVA foam layer to take on any dregs.

Mike Jensen says of Philip’s design, “This helmet overcomes some of the existing stigmas and the physical discomfort associated with wearing helmets in this sport. It uses a new system where the helmet conforms to the shape of the users head through a segmented approach.

“In a sport where head accidents can be very serious, Triple Skin offers a solution that could create a cultural change.”

See Philip’s design here: Triple Skin BMX Helmet

Bound by 8 by Wairarapa designer, Emma Warren

Emma Warren, a 24 year old industrial design graduate from Massey University has designed Bound by 8, a sustainable shoe that is made from only natural latex and wool.

Challenged by fast fashion footwear which uses harmful plastics and synthetic derived materials, Emma sought to create a long lasting shoe made only of natural materials from New Zealand, while reviving the craft of shoe making.

In researching her materials, Emma discovered New Zealand has an abundance of wool by-product from the meat industry, the natural resource barely bringing any returns to the grower. Her research found there are twenty seven steps of manufacture and multiple vendors in between the grower and the consumer, making wool supply a very convoluted system.

Now working as a bespoke shoe designer in Sydney, Emma says her design requires no glue, instead utilising the adhesive nature of wool felt to attach the shoe’s elements. Bound by 8 reduces the number of steps in the exhaustive supply chain.

Says Mike Jensen “Bound by 8 is a beautiful ecological story creating a complete product from pure natural materials. The product development uses a manufacturing process that goes complete from paddock to product.”

Emma’s design can be viewed here: Bound by 8

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