Summer is quickly zipping by (like it does every year) and if you have yet to go on a summer road trip, you may be feeling like your chance is slipping away. But even if you don’t have any vacation time left on the books, you can still hit the road — you just have to make your office mobile. Enter Edmonds + Lee Architects, an architectural firm that turned working from anywhere into a reality for one lucky client.
Starting with a vintage 1960s Airstream Bambi II trailer, the team at Edmonds + Lee, headed by Lee Edmonds, transformed the interior into a flexible, go-anywhere live-work space. Through careful architectural decisions, thoughtful material selections, and an understanding of how space is used, the trailer became a stylish and functional home that allows the owner to live the dream — traveling to and working from wherever he chooses.
Nicknamed The Kugelschiff (which translates to “bullet ship” from the original German), the trailer needed to serve myriad functions for the client. Along with being a place to call home and a mobile office, there needed to be a way to entertain a few guests or hold a meeting, connect to the Cloud, and function off-grid. Edmonds was able to meet every request by making each space multi-functional, incorporating solar power, and adding a cellular hot spot to connect to the internet, even in the middle of nowhere.
With just 80 square feet to work with, Edmonds had to get creative. He relied on hidden storage, turning the space under the banquet and even under the floor into storage for the equipment needed to run the trailer off-grid. Each space in the trailer serves double duty. The built-in banquet is both meeting area and dining room. The desk in the office was built on custom pistons that allow it to be lowered and turned into the bed. The sink in the kitchen can be covered to turn the counter into extra workspace. It’s a cohesive design that naturally flows from one space into the next. But most impressive is the way Edmonds stylishly squeezed a home and office into such a small space without it feeling cramped.
To create a sense of wholeness, the interior of the trailer is clad is glossy white-painted aluminum — mimicking the shine of the polished aluminum exterior. Cabinets and flooring are done in soft-grained white ash and countertops are white Corian. A bit of contrast was added through the use of warm gray upholstery on the built-in banquette seating. It all comes together to create a beautifully bright space with light bouncing off the walls and making the trailer feel spacious.
The owner was drawn to Mid-Century Modern aesthetics and Edmonds made sure to incorporate a few classic touches like an Eero Saarinen Tulip Table in the dining/meeting area and an Eames chair for the office. These simple yet elegant pieces are the perfect finishing touches for the crisp, clean design of this unique home-and-office on wheels.
Want a Bambi trailer of your own to turn into a mobile office? Airstream recently re-released their classic towalongs, officially turning the “Bambi” nickname into its own line that you can view here.
