Barkitecture - it's all in the detail

Thomas McCormick, Architectural Designer at Aston Martin

What was your inspiration for the kennel?

“The initial inspiration for the kennel came from Philipp Süssman’s ‘Abri Boca’ Living Pod that perfectly encapsulated the pop-up brief. His design challenged the transition between open and public spaces and more confined, intimate ones. At Aston Martin, we felt that this was a fitting design approach that could help provide relief for dogs in a jet-setting environment that can often be highly stimulating and overwhelming.”

“The design process involved lots of rough sketching and collating of reference imagery as well as material samples. We then modelled the initial concept in a CAD software and sent it to be reviewed by our inhouse fabricators who modelled several of the components to test and develop the design functions. The fabricators made a few minor changes to the overall design that would benefit usability, and we then outsourced the manufacture of the kennel to a company that specialises in prototype construction”

Where there any special considerations to adapt for the Barkitecture theme?

“The compact nature of the kennel was a key consideration,” Thomas continues, “The product had to be something that dog owners would feel comfortable carrying which was also comfortable enough for a dog to use. For this reason, the way in which it folded down into a subtle and carriable product was critical, whilst also retaining enough padding for the dog’s comfort.”

How did you test that the kennel was ‘dog appropriate’?

“The design was tested by our quality surveying miniature dachshund ‘Dave’ who thoroughly enjoyed his experience. He fitted perfectly into the allocated bedding space; however, we did revise the bedding material to add a softer and more appropriate pad to keep the dogs comfy at all times.”

“The whole team thoroughly enjoyed getting to see our design showcased amongst all of the talented entries in the Barkitecture gallery and had a wonderful time at Goodwoof too.”

Martin Hall, Director at Hall + Bednarczyk

How did you come up with the concept for ‘Headrush’?

Martin Hall, Director at Hall + Bednarczyk talked us through the thinking behind their fabulous design, Headrush. He said, “Headrush was inspired by the idea of dog-friendly travel being epitomised by the amusing sight of dogs poking their noses out of the window of a moving car. We brainstormed that idea and thought that the logical, if slightly ludicrous, extreme, would be for a dog to be housed in the air intake of a racing car. Classic racing cars had smooth elegant air intake designs that, we thought, were the ideal shape to morph into a beautiful kennel.

“With the concept idea established, complete with a British Racing Green paintjob, we considered how best to construct this one-off kennel without breaking the budget. A skeleton of plywood ribs formed the curved pod which were then sheathed in flexible veneer sheets to create a smooth outer shell. A professional body shop spray applied a beautiful glossy paint finish, whilst the interior was finished in matt black.

What did you think of Barkitecture?

“It was wonderful to see the design, firstly in the Bonhams Mayfair showroom, alongside a dazzling array of kennels presented by top creative teams and, when this was transferred to Goodwoof for the event and subsequent charity auction in aid of Jai Dog Rescue, it was a great pleasure to see how much interest and attention Headrush was attracting.

“While the basic premise of Barkitecture is light-hearted, coming up with fresh ideas for the brief is a worthwhile creative endeavour and we have been delighted to have been involved in the event each year from its inauguration.”

Gianni Botsford

Tell us more about your kennel design

“We decided that we wanted to continue our ‘basking in the sun’ theme which we originated for the 2023 Barkitecture competition. We also wanted to maintain our entirely timber kennel concept which celebrates, not only this natural activity, but also the dog’s enjoyment of it. The dome-like form can be turned up to bask in the sun or flipped upside down to provide shade from the sun.

“We tested a number of options both with physical and computer models. The biggest challenge was how to make the form in the lightest way possible using as little material as we could. We initially tested bending 5mm plywood over a former but found that this was very hard to get the shape right so ended up with CNC laser cut 6mm ply hoops what were stacked and glued together.

“We wanted the kennel to be lightweight, yet robust as we saw it being part of a camping or travelling kit that would become an essential part of the packing. We made an image of the kennel on the roof of a car filled with equipment to visualise this.

“As our kennel worked in two ways – one ‘introvert’ and the other ‘extrovert’ we tried it both ways on different dogs to see which they had preference for – either open to the sun or closed and more private.”

“We very much enjoyed seeing our kennel on display as well as our winning kennel from last year as part of the Barkitecture submissions.”

Join us for the excitement of the Barkitecture competition at Goodwoof 2025. Early bird tickets are on sale now with all activities included in the price of your ticket.

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