FREC CENTER

When production of a car is decommissioned, what happens to all the materials that were used to produce it? Space Saloon’s project for FREC(Ford Resource and Engagement Center) sought to answer this question while simultaneously supporting a local neighborhood community center through the design of flexible furniture.

FREC is a non-profit hub, community space, and educational center for the neighborhood of Nang Loeng in Bangkok, Thailand. Space Saloon worked directly with Ford Motors Company to design new uses for wasted materials. After visits to the Bangkok Ford factory, we discovered piles and piles of steel on its way to the dump. Our project sought to give an afterlife to these materials, up-cycling them for new creative and flexible furniture pieces.

Our classroom was made from up-cycled material on its way to the dump. Resurfacing the desks and chairs into a modular element allows users to create a series of layouts for group workshops, traditional classrooms, board meetings, and more.

The library reading room provides individual reading spaces and a collection of materials from the non-profit organizations in the building. The space, open to the public, gives an important resource to the community. Additional movable and reconfigurable panels allow for flexibility in meeting formats. Whiteboards, cork boards and projection surfaces can be detached from the rolling structure and moved across floors throughout the building, keeping the presentation going from space to space.

In the auditorium we designed and fabricated a series of movable furniture pieces with an endless array of uses: exhibition display, seating, play elements, storage and more. Our playful, puzzle-like design allows users to easily reconfigure the space.

DESIGN
Gian Maria Socci
Rebecca van Beeck
Danny Wills

FABRICATION

Nanu Youttananukorn
Maxime Goléo

ASSISTANTS

Chularach EngchanilSantasak Apasuthirat

Natchaluck Radomsittipat

COLLABORATORS

Nang Loeng Community

Ford Resource and Engagement Center

Urban Studies Lab (USL)

Scholars of Sustenance (SOS)

Lighting & Equipment PLC
Bangkok 1899


SPONSORS
Ford Motor Company