WHILE caravanners always require more space, it seems caravan
designers enjoy nothing so much as to design smaller, cuter models to show off
their skills.
In Colorado, one such enthusiast is Britton Purser, who designed
the Vintage Overland teardrop trailers, which Purser and his co-designing
brothers say are lightweight but tough enough for veldt
work.
work.
Empty, a Vintage Overland teardrop weighs only 317 kg, but it has
the usual double mattress with reading lights inside and kitchenette under the
nose-cone.
For those who don’t want to go offroad, but need space both to
sleep in and transport stuff, the Mogo Freedom trailer offers a rectangular
space that opens on both sides to create a simple but very versatile shelter and
bike transporter.
With very little space to work with, flexibility is key, and no
caravan is more adaptive than the HC1 Adaptiv. Like a box of Lego bricks, the
HCI offer six base components — a bench, kitchenette, table, cushion, floor
panel and lid, which all click into place on the floor so that the caravanner
can create a layout that best suits their needs — from a bed to sleep five to
empty floor space for mountain bikes.
All the components can also be used as outdoor furniture. Other
accessories in the HC1 include a Bose sound system, built-in USB and AC power
sockets and a tablet docking station. On the roof a 100 Watt solar panel
generates power for the water heater.
In Belgium, Olivier Caluwier, creative partner of the design firm
Five AM did not have play in mind when he designed a mobile office using an old
caravan. Calling his creation dojowheels, Caluwier’s office-from-home has a
raised floor on drawers and a central, circular table that can be lifted from
the floor or dropped back to form part of the bed’s base. The round table can
seat six in relative comfort, with reading lights and work lights above the
desk.
Most notable about the dojowheels is its fridge, which can keep 150
bottles of beer chilled. It is a Belgian caravan, after all.
Further north in chilly Denmark, designer Jonas Hallberg’s Tiny
Office on wheels is less focused on celebrating that deal and more on keeping
warm.
The caravan, which is made from recycled materials, feature a
cutting-edge little Gaia Marin wood-burning stove, mounted on a wall.
Each Tiny Office is hand-made, which is European for bloody pricey,
and unit prices start at R171 609, not including the fully kitted-out office
which adds another R79 783 to the price.
But Hallberg’s Tiny Office is cheap compared to the “three-room”
expanding teardrop made be French caravaning company Beauer.
Selling for R361 282 in England, the one-ton 3X teardrop telescopes
out the 1,85 metre-wide body on both sides to expand the 4 m² to 12 m² in about
20 seconds. Inside a bedroom, bathroom, dining area with kitchenette awaits.
