Imagine the following scenario: It’s a regular morning, in one hand, you’re holding a steaming cup of coffee (perhaps a little too hot), and in the other, you pull out your favorite pair of jeans, freshly laundered, from the closet in front of you. Suddenly, your phone starts vibrating. That all-too-familiar, nerve-wracking alert tone from the Home Front Command app fills the room, followed instantly by a push notification: “Incoming fire from Yemen. Enter a protected space immediately.”
Anyone who has lived here over the past two years knows this exhausting reality, which is especially troubling for those without a protected shelter nearby. But in the near future, that picture may change. Instead of calculating where the closest safe room is, all you might need to do is pull the orange handle at the back of your wardrobe — the same one you just pulled a pair of jeans from — and within five seconds it will transform into a life-saving shelter.
Israeli patent: A closet that turns into a safe room at the pull of a handle
(Illustration: Holon Institute of Technology)
Sounds like science fiction? It isn’t. This is the new reality presented by Nimrod Shani, a graduate of the Industrial Design Department at the Holon Institute of Technology (HIT), who has set out to spark a small revolution in home protection.
As part of his final project, Shani, a civil engineer with a master’s degree in management and entrepreneurship, unveiled “Shelter 1”: a blast-resistant wardrobe that functions as an everyday closet but, in an emergency, transforms within seconds into a fortified shelter.
The project was born out of the sense of vulnerability I felt after the events of October 7,” Shani recalls. “Many people experienced a deep fear then, not only in the face of security threats, but also in confronting the realization that we don’t have full control over our reality. I felt compelled to create a solution that was simple, accessible and affordable, one that could give people a sense of safety in their own homes, even if they don’t have significant financial means.”
A life-saving capsule
According to a State Comptroller report from June, 6.2 million Israelis live without proper protective infrastructure. In Israel’s complex security reality, this means they remain exposed and defenseless in the face of missile threats.
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Don’t let the closet fool you — within five seconds it turns into a shelter
(Photo: Holon Institute of Technology)
Nimrod, how does the mechanism of transforming from a closet into a protected space actually work?
“The wardrobe is built from two main parts,” Shani explains. “There’s a fixed outer shell and a dynamic inner unit that moves forward and backward on a bottom rail. It sits on four wheels with a total load capacity of 600 kilograms. On a daily basis, it functions as a normal closet, you open the doors and use it as usual. But in an emergency, you pull the orange handle at the front, the inner part slides forward, locks from the outside, and creates a secure space behind it that can comfortably fit three people.”
How long does the transformation take?
“Exactly the same time it takes to open a car door - about five seconds,” Shani stresses. “And the pull can easily be done by a five-year-old.”
The closet is made of polycarbonate, an especially durable plastic, with a matte, scratch-resistant finish. The material provides partial transparency while withstanding blast waves and shrapnel from up to 15 meters away. In addition, the entire unit can be easily dismantled and reassembled, without requiring any professional knowledge of furniture construction.
According to Shani, the solution offers not only physical protection but also psychological reassurance: “It’s not a cumbersome addition or an expensive construction project, but rather an everyday piece of furniture seamlessly integrated into the home. In a moment of need, it becomes a hiding place that protects against shrapnel and blast effects. The special finish is also designed to ‘scratch gracefully,’ so using the closet as a shelter doesn’t compromise its appearance.”
The choice of material that allows partial transparency was no coincidence. “In the research I conducted at the start of the project, it became clear that people wanted to remain aware of what was happening outside the protected space, but without being too exposed,” he explains. “Partial transparency helped achieve exactly that.”
The closet also includes a built-in ventilation system and automatic interior lighting, adapted from existing technologies with slight modifications. “The system draws filtered air into the closet, adding another layer of security for the user. In principle, any system can be integrated into it, turning the unit into a life-saving capsule equipped with everything you need.”
And what happens if the closet is full of clothes when it suddenly needs to be used?
“The closet is designed to be full,” Shani explains. “The clothes are placed within its inner unit, which doesn’t interfere with opening or closing, even when the closet is packed.”
Home protection at the price of a used car
The project was designed for mass production and sale, including home delivery of the product in flat-pack form, just like IKEA, which saves space during transport. The expected consumer price for a unit is only 16,000 shekels.
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Even a five-year-old can turn the closet into a safe room. The magic handle
(Photo: Holon Institute of Technology)
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Just like IKEA: arrives disassembled, quick to build
(Photo: Holon Institute of Technology)
Not exactly cheap.
“But it’s far more cost-effective than building a reinforced security room, which ranges from 90,000 to 220,000 shekels,” Shani points out. “And here, for that price, you’re also getting a uniquely designed wardrobe.”
The closet-shelter was presented at the graduation exhibition of HIT’s Industrial Design Department, where Shani studied, alongside dozens of other projects combining design and innovation. “It’s important to remember that the world is in the midst of an arms race, and there is a widespread sense of insecurity in countless countries,” he explains. “In Israel, 60% of citizens lack proper protection. That figure is almost incomprehensible. But if we look at Ukraine, the United States, Germany, and many other countries, we see that in those places the number approaches 90% of citizens who are unprotected.”
The materials used in the closet have already been approved by the Standards Institute of Israel, and Shani is now preparing for a comprehensive test at the Explosives Institute to evaluate all the system’s components together. Once these trials are completed, the innovative solution is expected to move into commercial development. The goal, he emphasizes, is to make the product accessible to the general public, much like portable shelters, so that anyone who wishes can purchase the closet privately.
“As designers,” Shani emphasizes, “we have the ability to look toward the future and change reality. Change happens through mediation. In this project, I’m trying to mediate in a calming, normalizing way, between people and the world, through a familiar object, in the hope that it can help, even just a little, to ease the sense of insecurity.”