A little bit of

Portfolio Work

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Intro.

North Design Works takes on a wide range of design work.  This could be ground-up from concept to manufacture or iterations driven by factors such as cost, process improvement, ergonomics, aesthetics, logistics or legislation.   Showcased below are just some of the diverse products we've helped create.

Electrical

The Linea HV, MV & LV featured below are a suite of products commissioned by the studio for Flexform Ltd.  Making use of E27 & E28 bulbholders, these classically inspired designs provide a versatile period look which is fully compatible with the latest generation LED bulbs.  Here we have design for injection mould, porcelain moulds and billet turning all showcased throughout the 3 models in this suite.  When setting out with this one, porcelain was a new process, however that didn't stop getting the design right first time. 


Automotive

This commission was an historic race car for Crosslé - North Design Works' brief was to take their existing 90F model as the basis, and develop a new front end to create a distinctive shark nose.  This would create a key aesthetic - an homage to a car from the Michel Vaillant comic book story L'HONNEUR DU SAMOURAÏ - The end use being a short production run for a specialist race school car as well as a promotional tool.  Having only a 90F car and no drawings or 3d models, a scan was created and imported into SOLIDWORKS.  Working closely with the marque and a local precision engineer, North Design Works designed the new front end and tooling during December 2018.  This involved blending out symetrical 3D CAD designs at the nose, smoothly into the 1960s slightly asymmetric bodyshell all within SOLIDWORKS.  With Crosslé completing the car in early 2019, it was then launched at Retromobile in Paris, early 2019.  Since then, the car has been a mainstay of Classic Racing Group and Vaillant Académie.  

Not all our automotive jobs are as racey!  North Design Works often contributes design services for automotive coachbuilders, such as campervan builders & fuel tankers along with other specialist builders.  Our Power Surfacing module enables Sub-D modelling right within SOLIDWORKS - allowing Class A surfaces ideal for both aesthetic and functional designs.


Sporting Goods

This equestrian product the "Stirrup" for Horseware is used to give the rider a step up onto the saddle.  Combining product design & toolmaking knowledge, this unique product won an Award at Beta International in 2015.  It was a pleasure to develop this product with Horseware & Christy Bowe, the original concept inventor.

Film

Airing in 2015, Sons of the Harpy was Episode 4 of Season 5 Game of Thrones. This featured prominent use of a Mask which North Design Works helped develop with Michele Clapton working for Fire & Blood.  Featuring on the DVD box set of Game of Thrones Series 1-5 DVD, suffice to say HBO were pleased with the result.  The episode had 6.82 million American viewers & 2.15 million UK viewers on its first airing.

Fabrication

Fabrication jobs passing through the studio tend to be complex.  This might involve aesthetically challenging designs, tricky strength of materials problems or those that require a tight control of costs and bill of material.  Usually with the complex jobs, North Design Works adds value by identifying scope for simplification without aesthetic or structural compromise, then by providing drawing packs that can be made easily and error free with sensible tolerances applied.

Design for fabrication is second nature at North Design Works and clients look forward to receiving clear, coherent drawings, bills of material and DXF files well labelled for immediate loading.  A close knowledge of laser, waterjet, plasma, press-brake, bending rolls and welding processes allow North Design Works to get workshop-friendly designs right first time.

Above - Bespoke Staircase designed, manufactured & supplied by North Design Works for a private client in County Down.  

Above & right - Garden Focal Point Flower Canopy for Ravara Training & Resource Centre.  

A 2024 bespoke design by North Design Works.  

Extensive use of the pressbrake minimises welding and mitigates supporting sections required to just a handful of small hidden members.  Fasteners are kept to a minimum and largely hidden. The result suggests organic form, playing with light and shade - yet is straightforward to manufacture & install. 

Redburn Sq Holywood County Down where the brief was to create workshop-friendly manufacture drawing packages from the architect's original PDF concept drawings.

Outdoor staircase designed for a Belfast Film Studio.  Original Concept & manufacture drawings by North Design Works.

Medical

As an example of the studio's medical portfolio work, in 2021 it was a pleasure to contribute design services for CroiValve, assisting as they pioneered their DUO Tricuspid Coaptation Valve Delivery System.  Here North Design Work's experience with injection moulding was an asset and the client was kind enough to provide a testimonial.

‘North Design Works took on the task of optimising, and in some cases fully redesigning, components for the manufacture of a transcatheter heart valve delivery system. The system required both injection moulded and CNC machined components. The job was completed in a swift manner within the project's ambitious timelines, and great detail was paid so as not to compromise the required functionality of the system. It was very easy to communicate our design inputs and requirements for the project with North Design Works, and they were very transparent on progress made over the course of the project. Involving North Design Works to optimise the system design for manufacture was overall a cost saving for our company, as the designer improved geometries allowing for muti-component moulds. We look forward to involving North Design Works in future designing for manufacture projects.’ 

Aoife Mulligan, Senior R&D Engineer CroíValve

Precision

A cornerstone of our design work, knowledge of Milling & Turning and an overview knowledge of CAM Packages informs much of what's done here.   Job pictured above is a Foundry Gravity Die Tool-half being 3-axis milled on a Hass VF2 with  Product & Tooling Design by North Design Works

Experienced in austenitic stainless steels, aluminium alloys, steels & engineering plastics to name but a few, North Design Works is well placed for specification of materials & finishing for precision engineered components.

A close knowledge of G, D & T for 2d drawings enables communication of design data suitable for manufacture anywhere in the world.

Tech Sector

Above is a design for North Design Work's long standing client, B-Secur who specialise in ECG & Biometrics.  Many tech-sector companies like B-Secur are primarily involved in software but, on occasion, require hardware.  When you can't justify bringing those skills in-house, North Design Works represents a useful resource.  Working with your in-house electronics designers (or signposting you to a partner hardware consultancy) North Design Works can seamlessly import and export between SOLIDWORKS and Altium to minimise iterations.

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