Holy hell. I'd love to live in that. Sure, I live in a rather cheap apartment right now, but come on. That's beautiful work, cheap, and probably could sell for a hell of a lot more.<p>The only stipulations coming to my mind that would stop me from rushing out and doing it /right now/, are<p>* What are the laws like, regarding parking and sleeping this somewhere? Do I have to find campground or something, or just live in Walmart parking lots all the time?<p>* What's done for cooling/heating? Does this require a pretty temperate environment, or is it relatively well sealed?<p>* Is all power generated by the bus? If so, does that make traditional tasks on the computer or other places hell, with the shaking, and if not, what generates it and how much can you support?<p>In general, I LOVE the idea, and the execution. That bus looks as roomie as my(once again, crappy, but still, a real) apartment.
Traveling around countries, continents, or the world is becoming more and more popular in 4x4s and unimogs converted in this way. See this [1] for a good example of what the back of a Land Cruiser capable of driving around the world can look like.<p>I drove Alaska->Argentina in 2 years, and now I'm in the planning stages of an around-Africa trip which will flow into a Europe->SE Asia->Australia trip.<p>For anyone interested, checkout <a href="http://wikioverland.org" rel="nofollow">http://wikioverland.org</a> for all the logistical info you'll need, and forums like <a href="http://www.expeditionportal.com/forum" rel="nofollow">http://www.expeditionportal.com/forum</a> and <a href="http://www.horizonsunlimited.com/hubb/" rel="nofollow">http://www.horizonsunlimited.com/hubb/</a> to meet people actually doing it.<p>[1] <a href="http://www.geocruiser.nl/images26/inbouw2-100.jpg" rel="nofollow">http://www.geocruiser.nl/images26/inbouw2-100.jpg</a>
Reminds me of Gabriel. He bought a Firetruck.<p><a href="https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=5432962" rel="nofollow">https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=5432962</a>
Is it true that in the US you could drive this monster with a regular driving licence? In the EU you would need either a C class licence(if it's over 3.5 tonnes) or a D class licence(if it can seat more than 9 people). Both are rather difficult to get if someone is not used to driving large vehicles, and require completing additional 20-30 hours of learning, not to mention the fact that you can't get them until you held a regular(B class) licence for at least 3 years(in most EU countries, exceptions apply).
Beautifully clean lines.<p>I sure hope he used Formaldehyde-free plywood though. It would be terribly noxious to live in if he just used the standard stuff.<p><a href="http://www.epa.gov/iaq/formaldehyde.html" rel="nofollow">http://www.epa.gov/iaq/formaldehyde.html</a>
<a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Methanal" rel="nofollow">https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Methanal</a>
This brings back memories of the first school bus conversion I ever saw covered extensively online, from the genius mind of Jake Van Slatt [1]. He took the reuse of discarded materials as his main inspiration, and really turned out something beautiful. His blog is full of all sorts of kooky inventions and reclaimed item builds.<p>He posted two great summaries of the bus interior and construction on his newer website:
<a href="http://steampunkworkshop.com/bus2.shtml" rel="nofollow">http://steampunkworkshop.com/bus2.shtml</a>
<a href="http://steampunkworkshop.com/bus1.shtml" rel="nofollow">http://steampunkworkshop.com/bus1.shtml</a><p>[1] <a href="http://www.vonslatt.com/" rel="nofollow">http://www.vonslatt.com/</a>
This is great, but living in vehicles is not a new idea, I'm sure there are thousands of people in the US living in buses/trucks/etc. Hank did a great job on the design though. It reminds me of the interior of a canal boat - they often have the same layout techniques.<p>Here's a UK couple that converted a double-decker bus:
<a href="http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-kent-18651140" rel="nofollow">http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-kent-18651140</a>
Interesting project, and it looks well executed. I wonder whether Hank took a look at British narrowboats at all? The design constraints are very similar and there's a couple of centuries of experience to draw on:<p><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Narrowboat" rel="nofollow">http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Narrowboat</a>
I live on a canal boat in London (<a href="http://everythinginthesky.com/tagged/boatlyfe" rel="nofollow">http://everythinginthesky.com/tagged/boatlyfe</a>) that I'm looking to do up in a similar fashion. It's a long road, though - I installed solar panels and a basic 3G wifi setup, but it's all been delayed while I have it stripped back to bare metal and rebuilt. The nice part about the boat is that the arrangements for moving it / living on it are a bit more formalised than I imagine this is and are part of the lifestyle. Still, this seems like a much more mobile solution. Good post!
I designed (but did not build, alas) a yacht in architecture class. Researching and designing the interior cabin was incredibly fun and challenging... I bet Hank had a blast designing this thing.<p>Ideas for the empty space currently being used as overflow storage:<p>* Water and/or fuel tanks (more necessary on a boat than on a bus)<p>* Shower<p>* Brig<p>* Pantry<p>* Rifle stowage<p>* Server room<p>(I went on to be a naval architect for a short while but never had a real project as fun as the catamaran design.)
Nice sales pitch. Not so sure about the end result.<p>It's quite pretty and the bed arrangement is novel although I'm not sure how practical it would be for a couple over time.<p>The loo is very basic considering what you can rip out of a 15 year old caravan.<p>I don't like the long central aisle design although it makes everything look bigger. Most boats, vans and caravans tend to use L shapes to break things up a bit.<p>Still, an interesting part of the USAian dream... <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Travels_with_Charley:_In_Search_of_America" rel="nofollow">http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Travels_with_Charley:_In_Search...</a>
I didn't read all the comments, but I did see a few people mentioned boats. I was going to say that there are many, many, many layouts for small, mobile, livable spaces such as RVs, motorboats, and sailboats. Given that many are more creative and better done than this example (straight line), I'm not too impressed. In fact, I don't like the openness--it looks too much like ... a school bus.<p>I do like some of the details, such as the ceiling lighting and the modular bed/storage. But the kitchen and dining and bathroom areas are uninspired. I much prefer the little U-shaped kitchens in modern sailboats, where everyting is easily reachable. Also, if I had such a project, I wouldn't be constrained by the existing ceiling either: I'm thinking a pop-top loft sleeping area or a roof terrace with interior ladder/staircase access.<p>Not to be overly negative, but I don't see the connection to architecture here. There are a few tenous links, such as the shape of the ceiling (dictated by the bus) and the thought that went into the bed-storage. But all the rest seems more like rough out interior design (fit and finish of the furniture)--and the unfinished bathroom and kitchen aren't appealing at all. I do think he got a lot done for a short project, but is it architecture?
My oldest brother built a bus too. It's a different approach but similar concept. Love these builds. Check out my brothers bus and build log here:<p><a href="http://www.bunedoggle.com/skoolie/" rel="nofollow">http://www.bunedoggle.com/skoolie/</a>
My dad did something similar back in art school. He bought a used postal delivery truck and it was his semester project to convert it into an RV.<p>Once completed, he'd take weekend trips. Leave SF Friday evening and drive an arbitrary direction until he was tired. He'd find a place to park and in the morning wake up in a new and unknown location to explore for the weekend.
Imagine this being a self driving car/bus. You could fall asleep in Berlin and wake up in Barcelona.<p>Now imagine it being electric and solar powered.<p>Is that the future of cities? On wheels.
If you want to some of the more 'rustic' end of the bus conversion world check out <a href="http://www.travellerhomes.co.uk" rel="nofollow">http://www.travellerhomes.co.uk</a> - full of interesting traveller bus conversions, mainly from the 80s. My sisters bus is somewhere on the site, though she gave up living in it years and years ago.
As to possible improvements (it's both a house and a vehicle, so there's plenty to keep one busy if that's the choice):<p>Solar panels are much better these days and a bus has obviously tons of space to put them.<p>AGM batteries are also the way to go.<p>If there were an raspberry pi + app to remotely report battery charge level on a mobile, that would be awesomesauce.
Very nice, I was also very inspired by this guy's bus : <a href="http://steampunkworkshop.com/bus1.shtml" rel="nofollow">http://steampunkworkshop.com/bus1.shtml</a> which has a Victorian theme going on.<p>Converting school busses into RV's is quite a hobby, there are <i>lots</i> of them out there. But more importantly there are lots of good resources for not getting screwed in terms of buying a bus with 3M miles on it that needs a new engine or something. Also "filling up" is not for the faint of heart when you drive a bus.<p>Things I like about this conversion are the simplicity and ability to re-configure easily. Things that might be a challenge are stuff flying around when you turn corners and what not.
I would say that in the EU you would have a nightmare with this bus. You'd be able to drive anywhere, but parking over night would be a major problem.<p>I did a 6 month stint over winter, in the UK, 'stealth' living in a converted Ford Transit HiTop LWB Van (had bed, cooker, toilet, bank of 3 batteries and a diesel heating system.) It worked well, but primarily it worked because you could pull up anywhere and park for the night without calling attention to yourself.<p>Showers where provided by whichever local sports centre I could find :)<p>Oh and this is an exceptional site if you ever want to try this <a href="http://www.parkopedia.co.uk/" rel="nofollow">http://www.parkopedia.co.uk/</a>
Really awesome. About the heating/cooling, maybe you could just drive to a nicer climate, like down to Florida for the winter. Of course, life obligations permitting. Seems like a great setup for retired people. Ultimate snowbird vehicle.
My favorite bus conversion is at <a href="http://digitalmastery.com/creativecruiser/?page_id=107" rel="nofollow">http://digitalmastery.com/creativecruiser/?page_id=107</a> or <a href="https://www.facebook.com/CreativeCruiser" rel="nofollow">https://www.facebook.com/CreativeCruiser</a> for more recent updates.<p>Lots of design and construction pictures.
This reminds me of the shipping container turned relocatable dwelling: <a href="http://www.fabprefab.com/fabfiles/containerbay/059MDU-lotek/MDU-UCSB-home.htm" rel="nofollow">http://www.fabprefab.com/fabfiles/containerbay/059MDU-lotek/...</a><p>Of course you'd need to rent a truck to drive it around, but it expands similar to some RVs.
Love the morphed school bus. I'd just take this idea to the next level and design a nice Volvo/Scania bus into a mobile living space. Would cost a hell lot more but this design is way way way better than any of the custom Scania/volvo designs that I've seen.
Beautiful and neat hacks. Wood is a good choice for the project since it's cheap and looks good if you put labor (which he has) into it.<p>Wood is also extremely heavy, which makes it a terrible choice if you actually plan on driving.
A friend of mine has a school bus, but it needs a new suspension bladder and those a) aren't cheap and b) are hard to replace. There's nothing more expensive than a cheap (insert noun here).
Because there seem to be some people that have seen similar projects: Is there like a website for such cool conversions of vehicles and other places into living spaces?
Not to knock his accomplishment, because this is really cool. My first thought was: this thing must creak and squeak like crazy as you head down the road.
that is sofaking amazing. cheers to Hank!<p>If he can figure out how to convert it to a serial gas/electric hybrid that would be cool. cover the roof in solar panels - blinds could be solar panels too.
I'm a big fan of this type of living. We need to provide
cheap places to park overnight RV's/buses. We have been
conditioned to believe we need to live in high priced
boxes. If things don't work out for me, it's a boat
off Dunphy Park. It will have a very well designed 12v
solar system.