Friendship Cabins

Plastic Waste Upcycled as Sustainable Building Material with Potential for Integration with Smart Systems

In response to the COVID-19 pandemic, the Open Restaurants program was established in NYC with the aim of “implementing a citywide multi-phase program to expand outdoor seating options for food establishments to promote open space, enhance social distancing, and help them rebound in these difficult economic times”. As of June 2021, over 11,500 NYC restaurants have become Open Restaurants. 

Installed at Peaches Restaurant in Bedford-Stuyvesant, Brooklyn, Friendship Cabins are structures for safer outdoor dining during the COVID-19 pandemic and beyond. They enhance social distancing by isolating dining groups while providing improved comfort and weather protection. The Cabins interrogate the use of plastic waste as a building material; Friendship Bottles are used as infill. The bottles stack and interlock providing structure, thermal insulation and diffusion. Mobile and modular, they can be shifted for street maintenance, expanded or upgraded. The Cabins’ wall modules were engineered and tested for 105 mph winds as per New York State code for temporary structures.

The Cabins are part of a busy, popular restaurant and are research testbeds for smart systems. Near-term efforts involve the design and installation of Internet of Things (IoT) lighting and ventilation systems paired with air quality and occupancy sensors for improved health, comfort and hospitality. Friendship Cabins are part of a larger research effort at CASE and the RPI School of Engineering to investigate the use of Friendship Bottles as materials for transitional shelters in disaster relief operations and logistics.

Project Date: 2021

Researchers: Mohammed Alnaggar, Alexandros Tsamis, Josh Draper, Dennis Shelden, Bob Karlicek, Theresa Mark, Abigail George

Collaborators: Square Design Inc.

Sponsors: Friendship Products LLC, B+C Restaurant Group

Publications:

Wells, Pete. 2021. “New York Loves Outdoor Dining. Here’s How to Keep The Romance Alive.” The New York Times. https://www.nytimes.com/2021/06/29/dining/outdoor-dining-nyc.html