Sun Living, #VanLife
Defining Priorities Early: Designing a 50K Van Around Real Use
Client
Sun Living
Year(s)
2023-2024
Strict cost targets and competing interior requirements force difficult decisions early. By understanding how the van is actually used by a growing target audience, we were able to define clear priorities and make confident trade-offs from the outset.
The Challenge
Designing within a limited footprint and a strict 50K cost target required clear prioritisation from the outset, as not all functions could be treated equally.
Certain requirements directly compete with each other. Sports equipment, such as bikes, demands space and accessibility. Living and working require comfort and continuity. Bathroom, while expected, consumes significant volume despite being used intermittently.
Left unresolved, these conflicts typically lead to compromised layouts, where no function works particularly well, and the overall experience suffers.
The challenge was not just to accommodate these needs, but to make deliberate decisions about them. What should be prioritised, what could be reduced, and where flexibility would create more value than permanence.
Our Approach
Our approach was grounded in a clear understanding of how the van would actually be used, allowing us to make confident trade-offs based on real user behaviour and liveability priorities.
Sports equipment was one o these elements. Rather than treating it as a secondary constraint, we used it to structure the interior from the outset. This made the spatial implications clear early and avoided late-stage compromises.
At the same time, we challenged assumptions around fixed interior functions. The bathroom became a key point of decision-making. For this type of user, a large, permanently available bathroom takes up valuable space while being used only occasionally. Instead of treating it as a fixed requirement, we redefined it as a temporary function designed to collapse when not in use.
Early iterations placed the seating and sleeping areas on the same level. While efficient in plan, this resulted in a more compressed and claustrophobic spatial experience. Through full-scale mock-ups, we adjusted the layout by lowering the seating area and elevating the sleeping platform. This introduced vertical differentiation, improving spatial perception while unlocking additional storage capacity.
Throughout the project, simplicity was a guiding principle. Rather than relying on complex or costly mechanisms, we focused on multi-use elements, such as shared kitchen and bathroom sink, to reduce duplication and keep the system feasible to produce.
These decisions were continuously tested through full-scale modelling to ensure they worked in real conditions, not just in drawings.
The Outcomes
The final concept demonstrates the value of making clear, user-driven trade-offs early in the design process, reducing unnecessary complexity and helping avoid costly compromises later in development. The result is a layout that departs from standard van configurations through a spatial organisation never before seen within the segment, shaping space around use rather than convention.
By prioritising how the van is actually used, the interior supports both active lifestyles and everyday living.
Temporary and multi-use elements, such as the collapsible bathroom and shared systems, free up space while maintaining essential functionality. This allows the van to remain aligned with cost constraints while offering a higher degree of usability and flexibility.
The vertical organisation of the layout enables distinct zones for sleeping, working, and storage within the same footprint, improving both comfort and efficiency. Achieving a 200 cm interior height required careful spatial structuring to ensure all zones continued functioning effectively together.
The layout also enables a sleeping area of a size rarely achievable in vans of this category, including the possibility to sleep along the length of the vehicle, which is an uncommon arrangement. At the same time, it allows for parallel use, where one person can rest while the other continues working, supporting real usage patterns of remote-working couples.
Overall, the project shows that better outcomes do not come from adding more features, but from having the confidence to define priorities and to design around them.
