BloomBox Design Labs
At a time when education and access to knowledge are more important than ever, over 280 million students are unable to attend school, and hundreds of millions more do not have adequate access to the educational technology that would prepare them for productive futures. It is estimated that 666 million people around the world do not have access to electricity, and therefore to connectivity to the world’s ideas and knowledge. This means that the world does not fully benefit from the vast imagination and energy of millions of people in communities around the world as it contends with the grand challenges of our time, including societal health, poverty, conflict, climate change, and planetary health.
BloomBox Design Labs (BBDL), a social enterprise founded by Stanford Sustainable Architecture + Engineering student Sofie Roux, is dedicated to the application of design thinking and sustainability principles to advancing access to high quality education, especially in underserved, rural, and remote environments. Many of these environments represent emerging populations and markets with vast human potential and unmet needs for infrastructure for education, commerce and housing. Conventional methods of construction and energy distribution are unable to keep pace with population needs for infrastructure and for participation in the ideas economy. BBDL employs modular and configurable strategies to democratize access to state-of-the-art education in STEAM fields. This includes the upcycling of shipping containers as well as custom made retractable structures; solar power; precision design of indoor/outdoor spaces for specific and adaptable uses; high speed internet connectivity; digital educational resources; and local production, sourcing, supply chains, and employment. Modularity, transportability, and security and virtual connection of educational communities, are key features of design.
Team Members
Sofie Roux (BSc, Civil and Environmental Engineering)