Page 116 - homestyle New Zealand (February - March 2020)

Van
DESIGN —— Small space
WORDS PHOTOGRAPHY
Claire McCall Duncan Innes
If, on your next beachside break, you
happen upon a young girl set up at a
table outside a big white bus who offers
to braid your hair, it’s probably Summer
Sterne. The seven-year-old likes to
channel her entrepreneurial spirit
while her parents, Renée and Matt,
catch the waves.
Summer and her sister Haven (5)
are privileged enough to be able to
follow the surf with their mum and
dad in their holiday home on wheels.
Auckland-based graphic designer
Renée and architect Matt had a vision
for a vehicle that would partner with
their pursuit of the perfect peeler, but
they didn’t want a hippy haven or
retro roller — pared-back simplicity
was on their radar. They also had a
budget: $20,000 for a vehicle and
$20,000 for renovations.
114 homestyle
Wish you could just pick up and
head to where the waves are?
This creative family takes the bus.
go
The 1997 Toyota Coaster they settled The main sticking point was how to
on had enjoyed a colourful life, first seat the kids while on the road without
as a party bus (hence its four large compromising space for the couches/
speakers and purple-tinted windows) beds. “We wanted seats that could be
and then as a 22-seat tourist transporter stowed away when we were parked,”
that delivered hikers to the Tongariro says Renée.
Crossing. “It had vinyl throughout the One afternoon, the couple “played
cabin, ripped velour seats and pumice a babysitting card” and headed off on
dust in every crevice,” recalls Renée. a date to the pick-a-part scrapyard. In
Transforming it into a Scandi-style the last car they looked at, they struck
sleeper was a major mission. gold: seats that would fold flat and meet
After hours and during the weekends, code — with some coaxing. “Luckily,
the pair got stuck in. The physical work, Matt’s good at welding,” says Renée.
stripping it back to the bare shell and He certainly got enough practise.
cleaning every crevice, was the easy Here’s a wee list: curved window
part. Alongside it were the mental mullions, frameworks for the fresh
gymnastics of achieving the aesthetic and greywater tanks, a ladder and
they wanted while meeting legal roof rack, door trims, bull bars — all
requirements. “Engineers had to custom-designed and self-fabricated.
certify every steel bracket, bolt While Matt was making magic
and washer,” says Matt. with metal, Renée was not idle. >