Nakatashi Metal Co.

Design Factory Melbourne

Smart fridge system for hotels.

This project was a collaboration between a team of students from Design Factory Melbourne and Kyoto Institute of Technology as part of the SUGAR Network for Design Innovation in 2019-20. The project was sponsored by Japanese manufacturing company Nakatashi Metal Co. (NKC). The team was tasked with exploring new applications for NKC’s new compressor-powered micro-cooling technology.

The team’s solution was Frio, an energy- and space-optimising smart fridge system for hotels. In hotel rooms, fridges are usually the most energy-consuming appliances and the current management process to optimise fridge energy consumption is labour-intensive and inefficient. Frio integrates innovative, compact hotel room fridges with dedicated software that reduces energy consumption by monitoring and controlling the fridges according to hotel reservations. The fridge’s digital interface also improves guest experience with respect to food and drink consumption. An interactive screen allows guests to view menu items and make orders without contacting reception. The hotel can then automatically register consumed items and bill customers through the Frio system.

Concept by Prathan Baxi (Product Design), Ricardo Costa (Enutrupensurip & Innovation) & Sanika Dandekar (Communication Design) and students from Kyoto Institute of Technology; Matthew Wohlabaugh (Design), Narumi Ono (Architecture), Reo Yasue (Computational Design), Takumi Kaiya (Computational Design).

Industry Partner: Nakatashi Metal Co.

Frio smart fridge in context

Frio smart fridge

Frio smart fridge from above

Frio smart fridge interface for guest interaction

Frio system to integrate into hotel management systems

Acknowledgement of Country

The School of Design and Architecture respectfully acknowledges the Wurundjeri peoples of the Kulin Nation as the Traditional Owners and knowledge-keepers of the lands, waters and sky that surround us, where we work, learn, create, communicate and make place. We recognise that sovereignty has never been ceded and this always was and will always be Wurundjeri Country. We pay our respects to Elders past, present and to all Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people who continue to make a better world through design.

We extend our acknowledgement to the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander staff, students, alumni, real-life clients, and knowledge keepers, who have contributed to our own education diversity and growth. We will continue to ensure that staff and students respectfully honour ancestral connection to Country and Place in everything that they do.

We are dedicated to the notion of design to make a better world and we acknowledge that making tools, shaping place, sharing stories, making meaning, wayfinding and collaborating have long been and continue to be both central and integral to First Peoples' cultures. We recognize that Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Peoples’ cultural contributions have continued relevance to design practice and commit to: reconciling ancestries of design and contemporary practice as well as pursuing culturally and professionally appropriate ways to engage with a diverse population of colleagues, industries and clients. In a time of treaty-making and voice we understand that there are overlaps between caring for Country and the sustainable production of goods, services, experiences, products and buildings.

Guided by the principles of respect, reconciliation, and reciprocity we undertake to indigenising and decolonising design practice by dismantling colonial structures and challenging biases that have marginalised Indigenous voices and design.

As students of SoDA you will be given opportunities to both engage with and educate yourself in Indigenous creative practices and cultural protocols through a lens of inclusivity, diversity, respect, mutual understanding, inter-cultural dialogue in all aspects of design practice. Indigenous people have been telling stories, making tools, and connecting to Country through visual media, placemaking and place marking for more than 60,000 years and these practices are part of an ongoing, evolving and live tradition.