RAPID customisation sounds like an oxymoron. For Bruce Swartz, founder of Bespoke Unique Creations, creating customised designs on a tight schedule became a way of life. Working with limited time and always under pressure to make each creation more unique and interactive, Swartz became highly skilled at computer-aided design, integrating technology into the exhibition experience and shaping a physical product from verbal ideas.
Swartz says he enjoys problem-solving and creating memorable experiences for people. “When I was creating exhibition stands, clients didn’t really know what they wanted, and I had a lot of creative licence to conceptualise something that could actually be built, and that the client would like.”
“No two projects are the same and conceptualising and building an exhibition set-up was a great opportunity to experiment with design, materials and interactive concepts,” he says.
Swartz has drawn on his years of experience to launch an online furniture store and design an easy-to-assemble dome structure which can be used as an office, creative studio, garden room, or rental.
He’s worked on the furniture range for a few years and finally set up a Shopify online store. “All the products on Unique Bespoke Creations are one-offs that I’ve made and perfected, and then decided to build into a range of replicable products.” Swartz uses quality Birch plywood for this range. The items are precision-manufactured with CNC machinery and shipped flat-packed with assembly instructions.
Revelling in the challenge of creating unique solutions for spaces, he also works with interior designers looking for bespoke wall art or made-to-fit furniture.
Swartz has manufactured many imaginative creations for retail customers, big brands, investment banks and shopping centres. His latest creation, a range of prefabricated, easy-to-assemble dome structures, is his most ambitious yet.
“I’ve always been fascinated by domes,” he says, explaining that his first encounter with dome construction was as part of a team working on an enormous dome in the Grabouw area for a television shoot.
“Apart from their aesthetic appeal, domes are exceptionally robust structures. Because there are no corners, the airflow inside domes is also optimised.”
Swartz’s initial designs are based on an icosahedron geodesic dome. An icosahedron is a polyhedron composed of 20 equilateral triangles. Swartz has adapted this complex structure to create a series of options, the Icosa 1, 2, and 3. The basic Icosa 1 is a single room and Icosa 3 includes an additional loft space and a fully fitted kitchen and bathroom.
The floor area of the Icosa 1 is 12,5 sqm and Swartz has had fun customising furniture to maximise the space. “Because there are no flat walls, I’ve created desks that fit to the frame, for example. I’ve opted for standard rectangular aluminium windows to keep the frame sizes manageable and practical,” he says.
The structures are designed to be bought and shipped in a kit form and then bolted together and erected on-site. “The advantages of this are that no building plans are required as it’s not a permanent structure, and it’s easy to transport the component parts to difficult-to-get-to places,” Swartz says. These are two advantages of Unique Icosa domes over using brick structures or containers for additional space.
Swartz says there is a lot of scope for customisation with each unit. “For the outside cladding, for example, I’ve specified Chromadek, so there are a range of colours from which to choose. Similarly, with the interiors, clients can choose from a few floor laminates and worktop surfaces. I’ve tried to create a few standard packages for basic pricing, but there’s flexibility.”
The total cost of a basic Unique Icosa 1 structure suitable for an office, will cost in the region of R550,000, depending on finishes and furniture.
Swartz says he is working on a few different variations, including a pentadome-based design, and a lower-cost version made with more cost-effective materials. Another project in the pipeline is to create a self-sufficient option with off-grid power and a waste management system.
