Helen Bird

Helen has worked to transform the humble food bike/cart into a modern day object of functional beauty. She has been inspired by her world travels, seeing small-scale, ad-hoc, hand-made street food contraptions/carts/bikes that are fast disappearing across the world due to rapid urbanisation. Helen has designed the carts for vendors from disadvantaged migrant backgrounds - sourced, supported and trained by a new social enterprise she has started. 

She operates her business for the betterment of society and to reduce environmental harm. Each cart is a bespoke design, not for mass production. Designed using both analogue techniques (drawing and model making) and digital methods (2D & 3D CAD), the carts are then fabricated using CNC machinery, laser cutting, metal folding and TIG welding. Utilising car/boat-manufacturing techniques with aluminium, and boat building techniques using laser cut plywood and assembled/finished by hand, materiality differs with each design. 

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