designs of the year 2013: morph folding wheel by vitamins design

the world’s first folding wheelchair wheel by vitamins designall images courtesy of vitamins design

london-based vitamins design studio (duncan fitzsimmons, clara gaggero and adrian westaway) works between the areas of science, technology and business. their ‘folding wheel’ invention has been included in the london design museum‘s ‘designs of the year 2013’ shortlist (see the full listing of nominations on designboom here), and is being presented in an accompanying exhibition at the institution until july 7th, 2013.

the project was originally conceived as a bicycle wheel by fitzsimmons during his studies at the royal college of art in london. however, gaining much attention for the concept he began receiving a lot of feedback about its possible applications – primarily that it would be ideally suited for wheelchairs. so, with the help of maddak inc. – a company who specializes in home healthcare and rehabilitation products for seniors or individuals with disabilities – the vitamins design team has further developed it into ‘morph’, the world’s first foldable wheelchair wheel available on the market for purchase. having the ability of being collapsed makes it easy for one to transport and store a set of four during travel, such as in the overhead locker on an airplane, or trunk of a small car as a result of the wheels taking a smaller, more convenient shape– in their open, functioning state each wheel measures 24″ in diameter, folding down to a compact 32″ x 12,5″ when not in use; weighing only 7.5 lbs a piece and made from glass filled nylon with a polypropylene hand rim.

the morph folding wheel measures 24″ in diameter

in its folded state its dimensions measure 32″ x 12,5″

detail

wheelchair installment

when folded, the wheels’s compact size makes it easy to transport and store

prototypes 

 the design is patented and produced by US medical supplies manufacturer maddak inc., as the ‘morph folding wheel’

the open possibilities of the morph folding wheelvideo courtesy of maddak inc.

duncan fitzsimmons (left) and adrian westaway (right) of vitamins design at the opening of the ‘designs of the year 2013’ exhibitionimage © designboom

adrian westaway of vitamins design showing a small model of the folding wheel open…image © designboom

and collapsedimage © designboom