We’ve covered a number of mobile homes here on LifeEdited, and we must confess a little judgment about this mode of living transport. While their interiors are always paragons of efficiency and clever design, their dependence on fossil fuels and association with the somewhat reviled car tend to diminish their edited cred.
This judgment is pretty misplaced. The fact is almost every home uses fossil fuel for electricity, heating, etc. And while we can’t say this for sure, we suspect the inefficiencies inherent in most stationary homes far outweigh the overall inefficiency of a chassis-mounted home. Mobile home dwellers don’t take long showers, leave lights on any longer than they are used or have any extraneous bit of stuff.
All this is a longwinded intro for one very cool bus-based home built by a guy named Hank. The bus was actually Hank’s Master’s project. Wanting a project that was more applied than theoretical, Hank bought the bus on Craigslist for $3000. Over the course of 15 weeks, he and his brother Vince constructed the bus’s interior. Material costs were $9000.
Unlike the other bus home we looked at a while back, Hank’s rig has an architectural feel. Its bent plywood ceiling and reclaimed gym flooring give it a cohesive look. Unlike the other home, Hank’s bus isn’t a fully functioning home, though he is living on the bus during a month long road trip that he chronicles on his blog.
The bus has a kitchen, a non-plumbed bathroom, a couple work stations, a removable dining table and modular furniture with built-in storage that can sleep up to six depending on how pieces are arranged.
We applaud Hank’s design. Even though most of us might not need or want to live life on the road, the project demonstrates a level of DIY small space design innovation applicable to any home.
Photos by Justin Evidon
via Colossal