If you thought camper vans couldn’t be elegant and cozy, think again. Jack Richens of This Moving House converted a 2012 Mercedes Benz Sprinter into a roomy camper van that can accommodate a four-person family on week-long holidays to the forest or the beach. Inspired by boat bunk designs, Richens added details like stacked beds to really open up the long wheelbase van and maximize space.
Richens and his girlfriend enjoyed traveling in a converted mail delivery van until it died. They then shopped around for an alternative mode of getaway transportation, only to find hideous motor homes and impractical camper vans. So his girlfriend designed their dream camper van, and Richens built it largely by himself, with some advice from his dad.
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At the front of the van, four captain chairs – the original fixtures – provide seating. The front two chairs can swivel around, and a table in-between the chairs allows everyone to grab a bite to eat together. Behind the dining area is a little kitchen, which is equipped with a sink, two burners, some cabinet space, and a small counter for preparing food. Ingenious storage beneath the floor provides an extra place to stash shoes – and lessen the amount of sand and dirt tracked into the camper.
The camper’s boat inspiration is most apparent in the bedroom. Stacked beds provide room for all four to sleep rather comfortably, and a porthole at the top bed keeps things open. Richens said, “The clever bit of design is an old boat bunk construction technique…The beds are only full height from the waist up and your legs slide into a space only as high as your hips are wide. Importantly, this enables you to sleep on your side or roll over without getting wedged or tearing your kneecaps off. Using this space-saving technique three tiers of sleeping can be cunningly shoe-horned into the available area.”
The cool camper cost about $10,000, with equipment and materials costing $8,500. You can read more about the construction process on This Moving House’s blog, and Richens has also started taking commissions to convert other vehicles into comfortable homes away from home.
Via Treehugger
Images via This Moving House
