Skip to content
Life Cube Flatpack Bank by Hongwang Zhu

Life Cube Flatpack Bank by Hongwang Zhu is a highly esteemed winner of the very prestigious 2025 A' Design Award in Zilver in Meubelontwerp Competition Category.


ZilverMeubels· 2025

Life Cube Flatpack Bank

by Hongwang Zhu

Client: Jason Furniture (Hangzhou) Co.,Ltd.

A' Design Award in Zilver Winner in Meubels Category

Colors

The Design

About Life Cube Flatpack Bank

Dit is een flatpack bank ontworpen voor eenvoudige montage en demontage. Het unieke kenmerk ligt in het transformeren van delen van de bankstructuur tot zijn eigen verpakking, waardoor het gebruik van verpakkingsmaterialen aanzienlijk wordt verminderd. Met afneembare rugleuningen en zitkussens kunnen deze onderdelen volledig in de basis worden opgeslagen, waardoor het verpakte volume wordt teruggebracht tot slechts 1/3 van het eindproduct. Deze innovatie verlaagt aanzienlijk de totale kosten die gepaard gaan met verpakking, opslag en transport.

The Recognition

About the A' Design Award in Zilver

Life Cube Flatpack Bank is winnaar van de A' Design Award in Zilver, een buitengewoon prestigieuze erkenning die wordt toegekend aan topontwerpen die prachtig en indrukwekkend zijn. Winnaars in Zilver zijn enorm briljante en uiterst creatieve werken die de uitmuntende expertise, het talent en de scherpzinnigheid van hun ontwerpers illustreren. Life Cube Flatpack Bank wordt verwacht een prachtig paradepaardje te zijn dat opmerkelijk professioneel en diepgaand innovatief is. Dit ontwerp dat de A' Design Award in Zilver heeft gewonnen, is een hoogst opmerkelijke, bewonderde uitvinding die baat en de grenzen van kunst, wetenschap, ontwerp en technologie verlegt. Life Cube Flatpack Bank is een zeer benijde creatie die verlangens oproept, positieve gevoelens brengt en verbazing en verwondering doet ontvlammen.

Behind the Design

Press Kit

Credits, team members and technical details provided by the designer.

Unique Properties
This is a flat package sofa designed for easy assembly and disassembly. Its unique feature lies in transforming parts of the sofa is structure into its own packaging, significantly reducing the use of packaging materials. With detachable backrests and seat cushions, these components can be fully stored within the base, reducing the packaged volume to just 1/3 of the finished product. This innovation greatly lowers the overall costs associated with packaging, storage, and transportation.
Dimensions & Packaging
The dimensions of the finished sofa are 1100mm 1030mm 700mm. After placing the soft components into the base, the dimensions are reduced to 1100mm 870mm 270mm, significantly minimizing the sofa's volume. This greatly reduces the overall costs of packaging, storage, and transportation.
Tags
Flat package, Detachable sofa, Assemble easily,assemble Rapidly,sustainable design
Production Technology
The sofa base is crafted from recyclable plastic using a one piece molding process, ensuring durability and environmentally friendly. The backrest securely interlocks with the base through a cruciform tenon joint, providing stability, while the cushion is fastened to the base via elastic straps, offering easy assembly and disassembly while maintaining comfort and safety.
Design Challenge
There are many flat package and detachable products on the market, but designs that integrate product and packaging functionality are relatively rare. The most challenging aspect lies in creating an innovative solution that can perfectly store the product, eliminate the need for complex assembly structures, and differ significantly from traditional frame style bases. To achieve this, we needed to conceptualize a base suitable for mass production that efficiently stores the product. After extensive research, we ultimately drew design inspiration from the technology of recyclable plastic one piece molding.
Research
Our research is aimed at the furniture market, and we hope to get an innovative sofa product through our project. We Collected information through our research department, including user is evaluation, Logistics distribution evaluation and other information. Learned that many sofa products are now large in size, difficult to assemble, difficult to storage and other problems, so we designed this sofa to solve these problems.
Inspiration
Traditional sofa bases often use wooden frames, leaving internal space unused. During packaging and transportation, this space is not utilized and occupies extra volume, often requiring additional wooden frames for protection. To address this, I optimized the design by integrating part of the sofa into its packaging, allowing the base shell to serve a dual protective function. This maximizes space efficiency, reduces packaging steps, improves operational efficiency, and lowers costs.
Project Duration
This project commenced in Hangzhou in November 2024 and is scheduled to conclude in March 2025, with an expected market launch in July 2025.
Operation Flow
The base features square holes for connecting the backrest and round holes for securing the elastic straps of the cushion. During assembly, the elastic straps on the cushion are fastened into the round holes, while the L shaped component at the bottom of the backrest is inserted into the square hole and pushed backward to lock into place.

Sponsored

Explore Beyond Designers.org

Discover products, services and opportunities from our advertising partners.

Good Design Deserves Great Recognition

Nominate Your Work for the A' Design Award.

Nominate