Belo, Terrafridge

Underground self-sustaining Refrigerator

How might we rethink

refrigeration for a circular economy?

Company name: Belo

Product name: Terrafridge

Role: Lead designer

Other Roles: 2 Engineers / Marketing

Research

Energy Efficiency

  • Cool air sinks.

  • In more traditional refrigerators, the freezer is usually placed on top so that its coolness sinks to the refrigerator below.

  • A chest style opening refrigerator or freezer is most efficient in containing coolness.

  • Minimal openings for best containment.

  • Spheres maximize the volume to surface area ratio, and thus contain heat the best.

  • Temperature is also regulated underground.

Why This Design?

We wanted to keep a more spherical shape to contain the coolness because of the amount of surface area. But we didn't want to lose valuable storage space.

We took inspiration from geodesic structures and tested different combinations of shapes and panels.

Interior & AI

I experimented with AI to visual some possibilities for the design of interior space.

The goal was to have a space that was easy to build, replace and clean that’s designed around human use.

Interior / Assembly

Entire make up is out of paneling that slots and clicks into another while incorporating pegboards that are easily replaced and cleaned.

  • The pegboards lock into the panels.

  • Hooks and attachments are used to attach the shelving onto the pegboards.

  • The interior arranged as the user wants with different attachments and setups.

    A versatile and custom interior is created.

The Product

  • Partly underground for containing coolness

  • Modular / customizable

  • Stores large volumes of food and can be used instead of a second refrigerator

  • Space to prepare food

  • Space for a chest freezer

  • Baskets to transport food in and out

The Terrafridge is an underground space for food storage for those with small farms, big families and sustainable individuals.

Learning Outcomes

  • Learned the importance and challenged of developing a large-scale self-sustaining product with many different components.

  • As the lead designer, I learned to manage and coordinate a team

  • This project lasted 1 whole semester; it allowed me to think through a product from ideation to manufacturing.