Nomadic Water Bed on wheels lets you camp on urban rivers

Royal College of Art (RCA) graduate <a href="http://www.rca.ac.uk/students/daniel-durnin/" target="_blank">Daniel Durnin</a> created Water Bed, a minimalist mobile shelter that lets you reconnect with nature in an unexpected way. The floating nomadic structure serves as a type of sustainable localized micro-tourism that combines the convenience of a hostel with the mobility of a tent, allowing users to comfortably camp on urban rivers as short-term accommodation. The compact Water Bed embraces the outdoors with large operable windows and is set on wheels so that it can be easily towed with a bicycle.

Inhabitat first saw Durnin’s Water Bed at SustainRCA 2015, a visionary showcase of exceptional work by RCA graduates at London Design Festival 2015.

The Water Bed’s minimalist design was created in contrast to the busy and ever-chaotic urban landscape.

Envisioned as an escape from the stresses of city life, the Water Bed encourages users to find temporary respite in and reconnect with the city’s existing waterways and wildlife.

Durnin drew on his own experiences of living on a narrow boat to design and build the wooden Water Bed.

The easily movable structure overlooks panoramic views of the outdoors and is also installed with pull-down drapes for privacy.

The Water Bed is set on wheels so that it can be easily towed with a bicycle.

“I hope that the work will reawaken our connection with nature using the waterways as a catalyst and restore balance to the more networked living space that we now inhabit, not just in London but across the globe,” says Durnin.