Flat-pack goods typically make more efficient use of materials and have lower shipping costs, and in recent years companies have designed everything from flat-pack beds and dressers to flat-pack lamps and even houses. Now, British philanthropist Sir Torquil Norman’s Global Vehicle Trust has developed the OX, the world’s first flat-pack truck. The inexpensive vehicle, which is intended for use in developing countries, can reportedly be assembled in just 12 hours by three people using basic tools, and it can be taken apart again in less than six hours.

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Post tags: "flat pack", Africar, flat pack vehicle, Flat-pack truck, Flatpack, flatpack truck, flatpack vehicle, Global Vehicle Trust, green transportation, green vehicles, Ox, Sir Torquil Norman, trucks

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Post tags: bakoko, CAD, cnc, eco design, Flatpack, furniture cut out of walls, green design, Japan, laminated timber, pop-up, shipping container, sustainable design, sustainable timber, Timber Cafe

Birdfreeder is a contemporary bird feeder that’s light as a feather and packs flat to ship. It comes smartly packed in a recyclable cardboard box, and it can be readily assembled in just a few simple steps. The clever feeder comes with a set of carefully balanced wooden sticks that suspend it in the air like a dancing mobile.

+ Birdfreeder

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Post tags: Animals, bird feeder, Birdfreeder, birds, flat pack bird feeder, Flatpack, green design, green products, Nature, Recycled Materials, sustainable design

With the shift from paper to digital media, our desks don’t need as much light as they did once before. With this in mind, Belgian designer Tim Baute, from Interror.be, created a flatpack lamp with a row of LED lights that gently illuminate your keyboard and the surrounding space. Energy-efficient, compact, easy to transport, and elegant, the Stealth Desklamp was carefully designed to respect resources and materials.

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Post tags: "energy efficiency", computer light, DMY Berlin 2012, Flatpack, green lighting, green products, Interror.be, LED, powdercoated steel, Sculptural light, Stealth Desklamp

The Wedge side table by Amsterdam-based Designer Andreas Kowalewski is a clever flatpack design that is simple to build, store and transport. The idea behind this genious piece of green design is to create a table that needs less space, hand labour and assembly time by using only one material and a simple assembly process.

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Post tags: "green furniture", andreas kowalewski, Flatpack, green design, green interiors, side table, wedge, wedge side table

This lightweight, portable cardboard table aims to assist on-the-go creative types like designers and students, who are often limited to work on low desks or floors. Made by Sruli Recht from flatpack cardboard pieces, this lightweight, sturdy design offers creatives an ergonomic plane on which to cut, fold, draft or design. Adding even more appeal to this smart and useful design, the table is biodegradable and can easily be folded up to pack into a portable carrier.

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Post tags: biodegradable materials, cardboard furniture, ergonomic design, Flatpack, Green Home decor, Sruli Recht, student design

Last week, we thought the idea of a prefab, flatpack, reusable stadium sounded like a great way to cut down on the cost and waste associated with what is basically a one-time-use showpiece. As of Friday, that was the latest plan for the London 2012 Olympic stadium, designed by HOK Sport and Peter Cook. This week’s news shines an even more interesting sustainable light on this much anticipated project. The new design has just been unveiled with a host of low-impact material choices, including a façade wrapped in environmentally friendly hemp.

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Post tags: Flatpack, HOK Sport, London, Olympic Delivery Authority, Peter Cook, stadium, sustainable light, Sustainable Materials

Here’s an example of the IKEA trend of mass-customization taken to its logical conclusion. With the Flatpak house, you pre-fab architecture fans no longer need to be bound by the constraints of a one-size fits all approach (or the dimensions of a flatbed truck). Architect Charles Lazor, of Blu Dot fame, has designed a system of modernist house components that can be custom ordered to anyone’s specifications, and then packed flat for shipping.

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Post tags: "flat pack", BLu Dot Flatpak, Charles Lazor Architects, Eames, Flatpack, Flatpack architecture, Flatpak, FLATPAK HOUSE, Green prefab, IKEA home, IKEA prefab home, prefab architecture, Prefab Homes