It started life as a stand at the Sydney Design and Decoration trade show that was held last week. Six architects and designers were asked to produce a ‘Sustainable Room’ (sustainability have you heard of it?) as a centrepiece of the show.

To be honest, I am not really sure what they were after, but we produced a prototype for a flat-pack cubby house, made of cardboard that would could be recycled easily once it is no longer fun, or when it rains, whichever comes first.

This version is probably a little larger than it needs to be and ultimately we are planning a version that will come flat packed in a size that fits in the boot of a car, is ultra cheap and easy to construct.

Perhaps we could embed the cardboard with seeds and as it slowly disintegrates in the rain and early morning dew, it starts a new growth, planting dense native shrubbery where the cubby house once stood.

(Photo by Roger D’Souza)

(Photo by Roger D’Souza)

Following the show, we dismantled it into its seven tubes, put in the back of a truck where it got a little battered around, drove it over to my sister’s house where it found its second home. We built it, hung out inside for the afternoon, drew pictures of robots on the walls and clouds in the tubes.

Here is some ‘advertising material’ we produced for the trade show stand.

The material for the cubbyhouse was sponsored by Visy who supplied the cardboard and Dulux who gave us the paint that we used on the inside during the trade show.