#03 Simon Spies | Brereton
VIEW iSPY GAME | VIEW FUNDRAISING PAGE
Chairity is an annual event bringing together creatives to auction off designs to support local non-profits. For the last 8 years, Brereton Architects has participated in fundraising and auctioning off creative and transforming furniture to the next iteration while supporting a variety of charities. The theme this year is: “Give Twoday, Change Tomorrow”. Since the children are our future changemakers, we wanted to transform an ordinary table and set of chairs to become a fun, inspirational place for children to be able to use for creative play, art, games, homework or whatever they need to help the great minds of our future.
THE ORIGINAL PIECE:
For Chairity 2021, Brereton chose to give a new life to a hand-me-down IKEA Fusion table and chair set that team member, Stephanie Murri had originally purchased from the Masonic Home of California, Union City which is a Non-Profit Life Care Community that her mom worked at. They care for Masons, their wives, widows and mothers of Masons. One program the Masonic Home supports is the “Garage Sale”. Items of residents who have passed away often leave some items behind that the family doesn’t need. These items are offered to the staff in a garage sale fashion. The proceeds of these sales are then donated to another charity such as cancer society, Local Charities, or Alzheimer’s Association. And now for it’s next life, Stephanie has donated it to be transformed for Chairity.
THE TRANSFORMED PIECE:
Inspired by the theme, and due to the size and compactibility of the table and chair set, we felt this would make a wonderful play table for children. Colors have emotional and mental effects on children in all aspects of life. Studies have shown that colors develop the brain’s creativity, productivity and capacity to learn. Project Color Corps, an organization who believes COLOR is a change agent that infuses a sense of well-being, joy and equity into our surroundings. Over the years they have turned underfunded schools into playful, inspirational places for children to feel safe, acknowledged and supported. And so, this year, Brereton chose to donate our team’s proceeds to Project Color Corps. Inspired by the children’s games “Simon” and “ISpy” and the bright colors of children’s toys, our table plays with color in a number of ways. On the table rests donated toys suspended by non-toxic melted wax crayons protected by a glass top. The band is made via CNC technology which allows the Legos to be mounted to the side inspiring creative play. The hard flat seat cushions were replaced with new thicker, more comfortable seat cushions.
Each table quadrant and chair is a different primary color - Red, Blue, Yellow and Green.
Red brings a lot of energy and excitement to children.
Blue is the color of calmness and serenity.
Yellow is a color that represents happiness and laughter.
Green is a natural and cool color and signifies growth and good health. So, choose the quadrant that speaks to you at the moment!
Brereton Architects | Chairity 2021 | Project Color Corps
THE CRITERIA:
integrity - how much of the original design is repurposed in the new design?
♦ The entire table is reused in the new design with the exception of the vinyl fabric that was used in the original seat cushion. Even the original foam on the seat cushion was trimmed and reused as a new seat back.
sustainability - were the added materials upcycled or sustainability sourced?
♦ 100% of the non-toxic crayons used to melt the wax on the table and the little toys were donated from families whose kids have outgrown them and were giving and potentially throwing them away. The only items bought were the paint and upholstery staples and glass bumps. The donated glass top is recyclable. The aluminum band was made from recycled aluminum and the fabrication remnants were donated back to the recycler. The fabrics do not have flame retardants, ship carbon neutral and have some recycled content.
usefulness - is the item still functional?
♦ Yes, we’ve strengthened some of the loose pieces and added more cushion to the seats so it’s even more functional than it was before.
novelty - how unique and creative is the final product?
♦ It’s so fun! The table itself is a game that can provide tons of fun! We’ve created a laminated iSpy game sheet with dry erase markers so you can search for the fun little toys buried in the wax. One side is a riddle and the other side is a picture key or for the littler ones to cross off! Each toy is on that table somewhere, can you find them all?
THE DONORS:
Brereton would like to thank the following persons & organizations whose donations made this project possible:
-Chairity /Two Furnish: $100 for materials - used for paint, screws, upholstery staples
-Table & chairs: Stephanie & Robin Murri
-CNC metal edge: SendItCNC
-Glass top: Mission Glass
-Fabric: DesignTex
-Foam cushions: Bob’s Foam Factory
-Reused Crayons & Toys: Albany, Berkeley, El Cerrito families
-Before and After Photography: Simon Chen
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