This van would make a comfortable full time home on wheels.
Or a great get away from it weekender with full sized kitchen units, a full, hidden shower that can be used outside if you wish and a separate locker for the toilet. We designed the van to be open and spacious for day to day living but with all the home comforts of a full sized bed and shower area when required.
Large Kitchen We opted for a full, L-shaped domestic kitchen, complete with 2 metre long worktop housing the composite quartz sink and glass domino gas hob. There’s an extra deep, pan drawer under the hob and two deep drawers both with hidden internal drawers for crockery and cutlery. There’s an 800mm base unit under the sink that holds the waste water tank for the sink and there’s plenty of room for recycling bins and cleaning materials. The feature wall, between the two large windows holds two rails for hanging utensils, fresh herbs etc. There’s space for a fridge (not yet fitted but has been wired up for both 12v and 230v)
Dining & Working A dining area is created by 2 seats either side of the van, over the wheel arches, both of these provide additional storage areas accessed from the top. There’s a solid oak collapsible table on a Lagun mount which offers a range of different positions depending on your needs. There is a large bench seat which runs down the passenger side and allows for stretching out as well as seating. In the footwell of the dining area we’ve created a useful cellar for a few bottles and cans of your favourite tipple, although this would also make a suitable shoe cupboard. We’ve used the van as an office, with 2 laptops on the table plus an additional monitor placed on the bed base, allowing two people to work comfortably.
Full Size Double Bed with Star Gazing Skylight There’s a double bed, sleeping lengthways, that slides effortlessly closed to create a small, fixed day bed during the day. This creates a useful garage area underneath that is accessed from the rear doors. Straight above the bed is a large skylight, perfect for star gazing which opens to allow for a gentle breeze on hot summer nights. There’s a blind to shut out the light if needed and a fly screen to keep the bugs out.
We’ve combined the convenience of a fixed bed in day mode that slides out to a full length double bed. The bed is created by two sets of sprung slats that are offset and slide between each other in day mode. This is designed to take a 6ft 3in mattress, divided in half and zip linked together. In day mode the mattress stacks on top of each other, at bedtime simply slide the foot of the bed out on its runners and unfold the mattress. The whole process takes less than 30 secs and can be completed by one person with ease.
Each side of the bed has its own magazine rack that easily takes magazines, small laptops and mobile phones as well as a bedside light with a USB charging point in. There’s also an oak shelf on either side of the bed for that bedtime drink or early morning cuppa.
Mattress is a 6ft mattress, memory foam (although the bed will fit a full length 6ft 3in double if you choose to change it), split in half and zip linked.
Although designed as a luxury couples getaway vehicle the bench seating would allow for a small child to sleep comfortably and there are 3 belted seats in the cab.
Built-in Shower We’ve located the shower tray under the main seating bench and we’ve mounted the shower rose above. If you fancy an alfresco shower the shower hose is flexible and will reach outside the sliding door with ease, great for hosing down the dogs after a muddy walk or wash the sand from your feet after a walk on the beach. We’ve located one of the 4 hot air vents from the Truma boiler into the shower tray area under the seat to help dry it out and this doubles as a useful drying area for smalls or wet shoes etc.
On the subject of drying, the 4th hot air vent is directed straight into the garage area under the bed where it would be possible to have a drying rail suspended from the bed for drying clothes.
Off-Grid Camping Equally at home off grid as well as able to take full advantage of facilities on site. The van has 480watts of solar panels on the roof and 240ah leisure batteries. As well as being solar powered the batteries can also be charged whilst driving via a Victron 30amp DC-DC charger or via a Victron mains battery charger whilst on hook up. All of this is monitored by a Victron BMV monitor housed in the main seating area. There’s a 2000watt inverter that has 2 outputs one of which is connected to a socket in the main area of the van.
Build We’ve not changed the DVLA classification yet, leaving it to the choice of the buyer, however during the build we’ve adhered to the necessary criteria (such as the correct window set up) which should make it easy if you choose to get it changed.
We opted for a PVC white ash effect cladding throughout which is waterproof, lighter and more stable than wood, perfect for a campervan with its ever changing temperatures. It’s also really easy to keep clean too.
There’s a gas locker for a 6KG bottle, located in the garage area, directly inside the rear doors for easy access, above which is an internal filler cap for the water tank.
57L over wheel arch fresh water tank with water level gauge.
When creating the bulkhead between the cab and the living space we wanted to ensure that we could fit through if we ever felt compromised and needed to move off without going outside. We’ve found that it has 2 other benefits, it’s big enough to act as another window to see the view from and gives the driver much better visibility at junctions when driving.
Blank canvas – We’ve chosen to leave some options up to you. For example; We’ve not fitted a fridge yet but 12v and 240v electrics are in place for one and a dedicated space is available to accommodate a fridge. We’ve got the waste for the sink set up with a jerry can underneath rather than an underslung system but this could easily be adapted. Likewise, the shower tray waste is set up for a portable waste carrier but could easily be channelled into the same underslung system should you choose to. We’ve also left the kitchen cupboards empty to allow you to decide how to fit them out for your pots/pans/crockery etc Window coverings, again there are various options so we’ve decided to leave these to your choice.
As you’ll see from the photos, there’s a 12v wire coming out of the PVC cladding above the sink, there are plans for a shelf unit here with lighting underneath (there is studding behind PVC to support a shelf) but could be left for new owners to have their own choice here too.
During the build we reinforced an area behind the PVC cladding in the corner above the sink so a TV could be mounted on a bracket if you want.
Vehicle Description
VW Crafter CR35 LWB
2016
Used
124,700 miles
3 Berths
Details of Equipment Used
Maxx Fan that either extracts or draws in air with remote control above kitchen area
Heki Midi skylight above bed (works well with Maxx fan on extraction when open to circulate air)
Truma 4E Combi boiler for heating an hot water (runs on gas or 240v)
Oak step, mantels, shelves and window cills throughout as well as dining table
Walls clad in PVC White Ash effect planks so no warping
Hidden full shower positioned to use outside if wanted
Lagun table mount and arm gives full flexibility of dining table
Panoramic windows at front gives all round views
80-20 privacy glass to windows
Fully insulated walls, ceiling (50mm PIR boards) and floor (25mm PIR boards) and sound proofed with Dodo mats. Finished with vapour barrier between insulation and cladding
Equipped for both off-grid or on
480watt solar panels (3 x 160watt Renogy panels fixed on 2 full length Unistruts)
Epever 30A MPPT charge controller for solar power
Victron Orion TR Smart 30A DC-DC charger to charge leisure batteries whilst driving
Victron Blue Smart 15A mains charger to charge leisure batteries whilst on hook up
Victron BMV 700 battery monitor system
Shurflo Trial King 10 water pump and Fiamma expansion tank
240Ah AGM leisure batteries
2000watt Pure Sine Wave Inverter
Price: 39,500£
Original Post: www.quirkycampers.com