Project Overview

Cactus rack is a freestanding and modular surfboard rack that is perfect for any room. Store your all of your surfboards vertically without having to drill into walls. The innovative modular design of the Cactus rack means that you can add to your board storage at any time. It's the versatile surfboard rack that grows with your quiver.

Each piece of timber is hand crafted from sustainably grown plantation bamboo, ensuring a artisans touch and leaving a minimal footprint anywhere on earth. Flat-packed and easy to assemble with only a single Allen key, the Cactus surfboard rack is a stylish and flexible solution to surfboard storage around the home.

Organisation

Cactus rack

Team

Simon Rapisarda
Felicity Lyons

Project Brief

For surfers, our boards are our pride and joy, connecting us to the water and providing countless hours of fun all in the name of searching for the perfect wave. When not in use, our surfboards can be a moments source of reflection and inspiration in anticipation of our next adventure.

Without access to a garage, or being able to drill into walls, we set about trying to find a freestanding surfboard rack that would reflect these values and fit seamlessly into our decor, as well as be a fully functional product that would be flexible enough to meet our changing needs.

After a tireless search, there was no clear solution available. So after hours of sketching and many prototypes later, we had arrived at the Cactus rack. This had solved all of our problems and looked great. As complicated as our beginnings had been with the project; we resulted in a simple yet refined, practical solution with a sculptural aesthetic to evoke sense of maritime nostalgia and purpose.

Project Innovation/Need

Our endless push for innovation with this project is embedded into every aspect of the design.

With a ground up approach, we researched and completely re-thought the way in which surfboards are used and stored throughout the home. We wanted to challenge the place boards are stored. Once we had determined all of the hard points for the design, the aesthetic and material choices were prototyped and tested to result in a simple, yet honest design with an intuitive semantic. This design upholds the integrity of the original aesthetic without compromising in its function.

Our greatest innovation in this product has been in its modularity. With a series of fasteners and joiners used, additional storage can be added to our surfboard rack at any time. This can allow users to scale up (and down) their surfboard storage to suit the space available in the home. It has also eliminated the need for any customisation at a fabrication level, so there is no longer a wait time for production and delivery. This also allows the design to be flat packed and assembled with a single Allen key.

Design Challenge

Our greatest challenge when designing the Cactus rack, was to integrate all of the functionality needed into the design without compromising the original aesthetic. These issues included; sourcing the right material, refining the fabrication process for mass production, breaking down the design for shipping (flat packed), maintaining a level of consistency when manufacturing components that fit together within tolerance, innovating methods in which the unit could be assembled simply and quickly without the use of adhesives.

Sustainability

Sustainability is at the heart of most surfers. It was incomprehensible for us to negate the sustainability of our product throughout the design process.

Some significant measures were taken to keep the product as sustainable as possible. The main material used in the product is bamboo plywood that is sourced from sustainable rapid growth plantations and is formaldehyde free. Not only is the bamboo extremely durable, it is also much lighter than its alternatives, reducing the carbon footprint even more when being freighted. Flat packaging of the design greatly reduces the freight volume to a mere 1040mm x 400mm x 100mm carton.

The timber pieces are cut with a high yield nesting, lightly sanded and then finished with a water-based clear lacquer to ensure no toxic chemicals are used throughout the fabrication process. High quality stainless steel fasteners are used to ensure the longevity of our product. There are also no adhesives used in the design, allowing each unit to be completely disassembled for recycling or spare parts. Our conscientious cradle to cradle approach has greatly reduced the potential carbon footprint of our product without compromising the aesthetic or functionality of the design.