We had the distinct pleasure to interview award winning designer Benoît SEPULCHRE about their original and creative Outdoor Wood Oven design work. Benoît SEPULCHRE is an award-winning service designer, that makes our world a better place with their original outdoor wood oven works.
Benoît SEPULCHRE ("BS") answered Design Interview ("DI") questions about their award-winning work Alfred Outdoor Wood Oven. Interview questions prepared by Frank Scott.
BS : This design is inspired by lime-covered wood ovens. The forms also come from the technique of construction called concrete shell ... All this with the idea that the form must translate the function.
BS : I wanted to make an outdoor wood oven that had the design codes of outdoor cooking appliances such as BBQs. But with a good safe and functional design.
BS : Communicate with my clients and promote my design for companies.
BS : After the market research, a few weeks allowed me to find the idea of the concept. But it took more than 6 months to build the prototype. . . . In all, 18 months of development were necessary.
BS : This project was a request from my client the French company Four Grand-Mère ... But we do not know at first what to develop. It's my market research that gave the leads.
BS : It is produced by the French company Four Grand-Mère which markets it in Europe and in the rest of the world with these resellers and importers.
BS : The company Four Grand-Mère did not have a product "turnkey" and it was not much visible in the resellers ... it was necessary to create a product with iconic design.
BS : Of course the shape of some BBQ was present in my mind, but it is mainly the fruit of my culture and my history that allowed this result.
BS : He is the lover of good cooking who already had a BBQ for about ten years and who wants to change for superior cooking experiences. . . because with a wood oven all types of cooking are possible from the shortest to the longest with a minimum of natural energy, that of wood. But young people who want to invest in a first BBQ can also buy it because it is made to last a very long time.
BS : It has been thought for the users. So it is completely isolated to avoid burns. In addition a functional system allows to put accessories in front. These accessories can be used for something else, for example the wooden cutting board which also serves as a serving tray to put in the center of the table ...
BS : It was called ALFRED for various reasons. . . . But the desire to give this product a first name makes it possible to personify the user's relationship with it. ALFRED is then a real companion of his owner for cooking.
BS : At first it's always my pencil that I draw. Soon after I used my 3D software SolidThinking Evolve. Then the technical development continued with SolidThinking as well as with SolidWorks in the company Four Grand-Mère.
BS : There are many ... the main ones are not too visible. This is the functional front hanging system for the wooden cutting board and other accessories ... There is also the cast iron glass door that uses the venturi effect to prevent the smoke from getting dirty.
BS : I did the design creation work alone. However, during the development, the people of the Four Grand-Mère company as well as some subcontractors helped with the technical choice for the final design drawings.
BS : Technology has already been used in the design with 3D software. From a more technical point of view, the materials chosen to realize the insulation of the wood oven were developed by the spatial research ... like the composite parts of the shells to last in time.
BS : Indeed I realized research on the market, the customers, the uses, the distribution ... This is obligatory of this to realize a good design.
BS : Make the product safe has been very important. Thus with temperatures exceeding 500 ° C inside the oven, the outside temperature should not exceed 70 to 80 ° C. We even decide to insulate the flue with a double skin to prevent it from being too hot in accidental contact with the skin. From a more general point of view it was necessary to find the techniques and materials for the price of the product to be in the market prices of this type of premium product.
BS : After having already been selected in the French design prize "L'Observeur du Design 2019", I wanted to look for one of the biggest internationalnal price for the Outdoor Wood Oven ALFRED because it is distributed internationally by the company Four Grand-Mère . It also allows the quality of my work to be recognized by many specialists.
BS : I learned that for a product as complete in the number of materials and technology used, you have to know how to take more time to test and choose the right solutions. From a management point of view, I learned to manage the fears of leaders and to accept some points of view contrary to mine ... but fortunately not all because this project would never have won a design award otherwise.
BS : An anecdote about the quality of the product ... There is a part of the product that has too much quality. they are solid wood feet called Douglas. the choice of this essence was made to resist outside. But for the users to be reassured throughout the life of the feet and to have a more homogeneous appearance, we did an autoclave above ... it was not technically useful ... but just for the design. But for a product that has some parts guaranteed 10 years is normal to do more.
