At first4magnets.com we were delighted when Sam Turner, architectural assistant at mæ architects contacted us with a brand new challenge, and one which would make all the difference to a very worthy cause.
Mæ were selected as one of the world’s 20 best architects to design and build a dolls’ house as part of the unique ‘A Dolls’ House’ project organised by Cathedral Group for the benefit of KIDS, a UK charity supporting disabled children, young people and their families.
‘A Dolls’ House’ will see 20 architects, designers and artists each design and build a dolls’ house for the 21st Century and on 11 November, 2013 every house will be auctioned at Bonhams auction house with every penny going to the KIDS charity. Each dolls’ house is being designed to include at least one feature that makes life easier for a child with a disability.
Immediately after being selected for the project mæ teamed up with MAKLab, Scotland’s first open access digital fabrication studio and experts in inclusivity Burro Happold to begin work on their design. Sam Turner from mæ told us about their vision: “We set about creating a house that can grow and change. Our vision was for a house that engages the senses and allows kids to stick and stack walls, floors and roofs to form a simple house, a complex house, many houses or a very big house.”
It was this vision that led Sam and the team to first4magnets.com. As every panel in the design requires strong magnets to hold it to adjoining panels they were looking for a supplier who could appreciate their vision and come up with the perfect solution.
Sam explains: “We wanted to use magnets so that the house could be rearranged with a minimum of effort. Having tried a number of magnetic spheres in the prototype panels, we were unable to find a magnet with the right strength to hold the panels together, due to the thickness of the panels themselves.”
“The technical experts at first4magnets.com were quickly able to suggest using high-grade 10mm N42 neodymium spheres instead of the lower grade magnets previously tried. The 10mm diameter neodymium sphere was over 30% larger in volume than the ones previously tested and the higher-quality grade provided an increase in strength of approximately 20%, making them ideal for the job.”
At first4magnets we were delighted to supply mæ architects with the magnets they needed to build their house and are eagerly awaiting the photos of the finished house. The auction for the mae-mak house, along with the 19 other houses is already open. Head to the auction site now to see every one and show your support for this most worthy cause.
Show your support on the ‘A Dolls’ House’ Facebook page or get involved with the conversation using #dollshouse.
About KIDS charity
KIDS is a UK charity supporting disabled children, young people and their families. They run home learning programmes, specialist nurseries and crèches, short-break programmes for disabled children and a series of inclusive adventure playgrounds. They offer a wide variety of services to parents of children with disabilities and programm
es for siblings of disabled children and young carers.
20 of the world’s best architects and designers build a dolls’ house for Kids.
- KIDS: Working with disabled children, young people and their families
