Krishna GildaA scalable lab hot air oven design developed for research and industrial laboratory environments.
Commissioned by Glaviqem, the project focused on designing a robust oven platform that could adapt across multiple chamber volumes while keeping manufacturing simple, durable, and production-friendly.
The design had to work around fixed heating chamber and electronics constraints, while creating a clean exterior system that could scale across different oven sizes.
The body was designed using sheet-metal panels with simple cutting, bending, and powder-coating processes, suitable for the expected production scale and the durability needs of lab environments.
The project began with research into institutional and company labs, technician workflows, equipment usage, and existing lab oven designs.
The research helped identify opportunities around usability, durability, service access, visual trust, and manufacturing simplicity.
Three concept directions were developed to explore different form languages for the oven platform.
The concepts focused mainly on overall form direction, balancing clean geometric structure with softer, more approachable surfaces. Once the final direction was selected, the details were refined further for manufacturing and prototyping.
visual perception
Manufacturing
The selected direction combines geometric strength with subtle curved surfaces.
This helped the oven feel robust and professional, while avoiding the harsh and purely box-like appearance common in lab equipment.
A scalable sheet-metal hot air oven platform designed for durability, usability, and manufacturing simplicity.
Designed for clean and professional environmentBalanced expression of precision, reliability, and approachabilitySomething that looks technically capable yet warm and modernA scalable sheet-metal hot air oven platform designed for durability, usability, and manufacturing simplicity.
A prominent vertical handle adds ergonomics and an intuitive access point.
Adding a side-mounted marker board can enhance the user experience by helping with notes
A side cavity for power switches and breakers keeps technical details discreet yet accessible
