Team:Dwellings/Rencol
The following letter was sent on the 10 May 2013. They replied on the 14th stating that they lack the ability to produce such design.
Hi, my name is [...], and I'm one of the coordinators of an international project for setting-up a sustainable community in 2015. We're evaluating more comfortable and private solutions than bunk beds for our communal sleeping spaces, and we're considering something similar to Capsule Hotels. The following description is hopefully detailed enough to give a clear idea of what we need, however we only need a very rough estimate, ideally a price range between a very bare bones cheap material to a well finished sturdy product, so we can better determine what our budget can handle. The community will have 10,000 people, so we'll need at last as many boxes in the end. We will only be in a position to purchase by the second half of 2014, so we're not in a hurry for the quotation, but it will certainly help with the organisation and the paperwork for the purchases. We're likely to require many other things like outdoors furniture and custom fittings. Hopefully we'll establish a relationship and do good business by the end of next year when we proceed with all the purchases.
Capsule hotels are sturdy boxes of plastic, fiberglass or similar material, and may be reinforced with metal bars for strength. The measurements we'd require are 2.5m x 1.3m x 1.3m, and can be fully open at one of the small ends (to face against the wall), and rounded and slightly narrowed opposite end (which is the front). We must be capable of piling up to 3 of them. Only the front would be visible, so the outside material doesn't need to be neat. The thickness between the outside and the inside should not exceed 5cm on any wall, except for one of the internal sides, which should be 20cm thick and have a few moulded depressions to simulate a table and shelves on the far end half, and shelves only on the front end half. The inside will hold an Australian king single mattress (1.06m x 2.03m) and a slightly springy rack underneath, which would ideally be part of the structure itself.
