When burglars enter a home their first instinct is to look for the place where the valuables are kept. In most homes this is a safe or some other secure installation. With luck the safe will protect the valuables contained therein, but experienced burglars will know what to do to extricate either the safe itself or the precious items it's shielding from prying eyes. However, there could be another way of keeping your valuables safe - storing them in the last place a burglar is likely to look. This is where Clopen could come into its own.
Clopen, from Japanese company Torafu Architects, is a floating shelf which contains a masked hiding place for valuables or items you'd prefer not to be found. The secret 23mm-thick drawer is invisible to the naked eye, with the wood veneer finish laid over the top of the aluminum parts making the whole shelf look like one solid piece of timber.
As a floating shelf Clopen works the same as any other, but by using the magnetic keys which enable the owner to slide open the hidden drawer, Clopen reveals its inner secret.
Anyone storing valuables inside Clopen would have to be confident the secret stash would never be discovered, because if it is then there is nothing standing in the way between the thief and the goods they desire. But it's unlikely an intruder would take the time to pore over the finer details of a floating shelf that looks like any other.
According to the company's website Clopen has been through the design phase and is now entering into production. No details have yet been released concerning availability or pricing.
Source: Torafu Architects via Designboom
