Inside there are selections of corner-wall joints, low walls, corner windows, roof panels, stairsand other components. The heavily stylised Arckit boxes give more of a nod to Apple design than traditional toy packaging. “If you want to put a turret, you can 3D-print it,” Murtagh said What is in the kit? People will also be able to draw sketches of parts they want, such as a curved or coloured wall, and they will be designed and printed. The future launch of an online shop for components will broaden out the range of pieces by 30, with users able to order individual parts. While he initially divided his time between the Arckit project and designing real-life homes at his architecture practice in Teddington, south-west London, he says his sole focus is now on the rapidly growing new product. His own preference is for modern architecture and the kits are based on contemporary panel-building systems. One of the scale houses that Murtagh has made to illustrate what can be achieved with the Arckit is a recreation of a Frank Lloyd Wright house in Pittsburgh. If you compare this to other products it is not really expensive.” He added: “It is a quality reusable product that is a design tool. Murtagh argues, however, that it is a “product for life”. One of the primary aims for the kits was education, rather than for it to become the next mainstream toy product, he said.Īt £269, the largest kit could be above some parents’ budgets. Murtagh explained the four different-sized kits are tailored to the different groups - hobbyists, architects and children - using them. In the US, Arckit has won an award for its educational benefits and for introducing children to architecture. From 2008 to 2013, toy sales were down 15% but the construction toy sector grew by 123%. It is one of the fastest-growing segments of the games industry and even outperforms video games, according to figures from Euromonitor International. The construction toy market is a lucrative one to break into. Murtagh said: “This generation is incredible, what they are creating is staggering and I think - like Lego inspired the architects of today - Minecraft will inspire the architects of tomorrow, and I hope that Arckit will take part in that.” Arckit has been use to recreate Big Ben and build spaceships and airports, which is all far from the intended scale models for architects. The first Arckit box was sold at the Grand Designs show in London last year to a child who had played with an early test version the year before. His father, Eugene, was the founder of Kingspan, the listed-building materials group. Murtagh’s family, who are from Cavan, Ireland, has a long history in the construction industry. You had all of these toys but you had nothing done after that.” Murtagh said: “There is this gap between all of these toy products and. One for 120 sq metres is £169 and a version equivalent to 240 sq metre is £269.Īdding to demand is a generation of children who have grown up playing Minecraft, the computer game where players make constructions in a virtual world. Four kits are available: the smallest is £49.99, while a kit equivalent to 60 sq metres (650 sq ft) is £89. The Arckit boxes are placed beside Meccano on the shelves of Harrods in London.Īrckit’s place among other construction toys was confirmed when Barnes & Noble stocked the product in 445 of its US stores. Future plans include the option for users to design their own parts for the kits, which can then be 3D-printed to order.Īfter launching last year, the kits’ appeal extended beyond architects who may have wanted to use them alongside 3D on-screen renderings, said Murtagh. Packaged with the parts are blank adhesive sheets on which designs such as brick patterns can be printed, to bring colour to the constructions. Using this basic selection of parts, two- and three-storey models, linked by stairwells, internal columns and corner windows, can be constructed. Ideas are provided in an accompanying booklet. The pieces are clicked together to take the form of the houses, which are 1:48 in scale to a full-sized building. The plastic kits include a selection of 26 different types of parts, which come together to make up the final home, from the joins that connect floorboards to the tiles that line the rooftop.
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