Author Archives: charlwood

‘Vestri’ Bicycle Rental System

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The Vestri bike system concept is inspired by the environment & uses wind power to sustain itself. Rental stations with vertical turbines are installed in the city. The Stations can generate power, lock bikes & transmit to a command centre. Users insert a credit card or a vestri card & borrow the unique bicycle. They can pre-book online, via sms or on the train. They can return it to a rental station with incentives in place such as credit towards a meal or a train ticket home to distribute bikes to high use areas. Since the turbines are not “on the grid” the stations can be relocated based on demand.

The Vestri Bike is friendly, elegant and practical. It is designed for low cost and easy maintenance with a rotationally moulded polypropylene body, shaft drive and ergonomic proportions for both men and women. The seat height is easily adjusted with a spring loaded clip. The tyres are injected with urethane to withstand punctures. The body also has a pannier rack integrated into the design for the users bag to be fastened to.For information available: download PDF.

‘Commonwealth Ave’ Concept for Melbourne

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Charlwood design’s concept for the Kings Way entrance to Melbourne is a sustainable vision of the future. It would create both an illuminated sculpture and functional transport corridor out of the street infrastructure elements. The design incorporates solar panels and water storage into 200 vast water towers.
This proposed re-development allows cyclists, pedestrians, cars trucks and trams to all use the through-fare safely and conveniently. The two multi-lane dual direction bike ‘high-way’ will encourage more city users to use bicycling as a form of transport as they can feel safe and protected from the traffic.

Shower Timer

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Charlwood design was commissioned to re-engineer a four minute shower timer for environmentally friendly manufacture, minimising the need for unneccessary screws and components. Sustainable design principles were utilised throughout the development process and the final product is completely recyclable.

The ShowerWatch was a finalist in the 2006 Premier’s Design Awards Victoria, in the category ‘City of Melbourne Sustainability Design Award’.

Newcombe Medal

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Charlwood design in conjunction with R-Co designed the inaugural Newcombe medal, awarded to Australia’s most outstanding elite player at the first Australian Tennis Awards.

Charlwood also created a unique presentation case to protect and display the medal. We saw the medal from sketch through to its creation through cutting edge production techniques. The result was a striking, elegant and modern piece of design.

Personal Oxygen Device

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This is a high pressure (3000psi) bottled oxygen dispenser for use during sport or in polluted environments. Offering a complete design solution, Charlwood designed, developed and engineered the valves and housing system as well as the packaging for the Canadian based company. The injection moulded inhaler was carefully designed for style and comfort.

Queen’s Baton

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Charlwood Design was selected to design the 2006 Commonwealth games Queen’s Baton which was used to carry the Queen’s message by thousands of runners from Buckingham Palace to Melbourne, passing through 71 Commonwealth countries. 71 lights on the front of the baton represented nations of the Commonwealth that the baton visited on its journey to the games.

It featured world first digital and communication technology and a distinctively modern look, with the tension and form of its slender frame reminiscent of an athlete’s body. Charlwood conceived the theme of the relay, designed the baton, supplied the technology and managed the manufacture. It was a complete ‘turnkey system’, and ran for a year flawlessly.

To find out more about the Queen’s baton relay please visit the official website of the 2006 Commonwealth games.

Insulin Inhaler

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Designed for Nanotechnology Victoria, this innovative device uses replaceable cartridges of insulin that is vaporised in to Nano particles for inhalation. Charlwood design assisted in the transfer of the unique technology from the lab to the market, demonstrating the potential form of the device.

The development of this product has been featured in a Design Victoria Case Study.

Ventolin Inhaler

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Charlwood redesigned the traditional asthma puffer with the inclusion of features such as the raised “V” so visually impaired users and others could distinguish the right product during an asthma attack.