Wallbed behind sliding bookcases
Wallbeds are space saving and putting a bookcase in front wins even more space! A bookcase is heavy so there are a number of design considerations which we review here.
This was an ambitious project by Pam and Phil in South Wales. Pam and Phil sourced the sliding bookcase hardware and used the Cabinet Designer on the DIY Wardrobes website to design four bookcases to work with it.
The material chosen was Egger Tobacco Aida Walnut H3704 MFC and the wall bed mechanism was the NEXT Bed from Hideaway Beds
The challenge in a project like this is ensuring the the heavy bookcases will slide well. When filled with books one has to consider a weight of around 90Kg sliding. To support the weight we created a substantial top valance in 18mm thick Birch Ply which was then clad with 18mm thick Walnut MFC.
The metal work for the sliding mechanism was supplied by the manufacturer of the Next Bed mechanism. This mechanism was American in origin so all the measurements were in imperial units rather than the UK standard for cabinetry which is millimetres. The European system for cabinetry is more refined that the American system so one needs to be careful with American instructions as they talk about “lumber” and assume you have a tablesaw in your basement workshop! Of course with our system no tablesaw is required, even for a project as ambitious as this.
Bookcases removed to show wallbed mechanism behind
The project consisted of five cabinets in total.
- There are three large cabinets - two bookcases on either side and an enclosure for the wallbed mechanism
- Two smaller bookcases that slide in front
Below shows the cabinetry images from the Fortschritt Bespoke Cabinetry website. All the cabinetry was designed online
Bookcases shown in the Cabinet Combiner of the Fortschritt Bespoke Cabinetry order page
On the Fortschritt Bespoke Cabinetry website the cabinetry can be moved around so we can visualise how the cabinet will fit in the open position
Bookcases shown in the Cabinet Combiner of the Fortschritt Bespoke Cabinetry order page in the open position
Another bespoke feature of this project was that there were some surface pipes to deal with. To address this neatly we machined cutouts in the factory. This was important because the pipes are still visible when the bookcases are in use so neatly machined cutouts are far more preferable to onsite cutouts.
Pipe cutout in rear of cabinets
Precision construction means the bookcases meet neatly in the middle
