The Stretchy Membrane That Could Replace Bubble Wrap

If you’re shipping something and want it to arrive in one piece you have a couple standard choices: styrofoam peanuts or bubble wrap. These options are perfectly effective, problem is, they’re also extremely wasteful. Mireia Gordi Vila, a graduate student at the Royal College of Art, has developed a new system of protective packaging that replaces […]

If you’re shipping something and want it to arrive in one piece you have a couple standard choices: styrofoam peanuts or bubble wrap. These options are perfectly effective, problem is, they’re also extremely wasteful. Mireia Gordi Vila, a graduate student at the Royal College of Art, has developed a new system of protective packaging that replaces those disposable pieces with reusable flexible membrane wrappers. The concept is familiar: You place your precious item inside one of Gordi Vila’s frames, and the tensile membrane wraps around it tightly, stretching the material like a face inside a pair of pantyhose.

Gordi Vila began the Fragile project as an investigation into new materials. “I was basically looking at how to get the best performance with the minimum amount of material,” she says. “I didn’t know what it would be for, but I thought it had potential for protection.” The designer had been toying around with making super-thin layers of prosthetic silicone and polyester power mesh. It was only when she combined the two that she found the winning material. “If you just used the power mesh, then you lack the grip and cushioning element; if you use just the silicon it would break if you stretch it too much,” she explains. “It’s when you put them together that they have this nice symbiosis.”

>The difference is Gordi Vila’s material can be reused for objects of different shapes, weights and sizes.

This elastic membrane is stretched between two types of frames: One 11x11 inch version and another that holds objects like bottles. Once your object is trapped, you place the membrane-wrapped good inside a standard box or suitcase like you might an object wrapped in tissue paper or bubble wrap. The difference is Gordi Vila’s material can be reused for objects of different shapes, weights and sizes. “It becomes this sort of bespoke packaging,” she says.

Like many sustainable alternatives, Gordi Vila's packaging requires some extra work for everyone involved. The designer envisions her packaging being integrated into bigger, established shipping systems like UPS or Amazon’s lockers. Handing off responsibility for safely packing our objects is another step for the shipping company, but it would be good new for the consumers. As Gordi Vila puts it: “Why don’t just open the locker and instead of finding a cardboard envelope you’ll just trash, you’ll find this magic pack?”