We thought it would be interesting to post a few before & after photos of the vintage double-decker Sorbé Living bus as it undergoes the transformation into our mobile/green office space.
Before:
After removing all of the seats and benches, we had the bus towed to our current office on West Pearl Street in downtown Boulder. As noted previously, we then had the interior sodablasted to remove decades of paint and rust, stripping the walls down to bare aluminum.
During:
As you can see above, we’re building a hinged roof for the upper deck for increased headroom and air flow. Our next steps include selecting finishes for the walls and building out the actual working space. Electricity will be an interesting hurdle as well, as we’re planning on installing photovoltaic panels (solar panels) to generate power for all electronic devices on the bus.
Over the last couple of days we have started to see the effects of the heat on the interior space of the bus. We installed a swamp cooler; however, it’s not keeping up with our cooling needs. And, the AC unit required to cool the bus would take away too much of our needed power.
We are definitely pushing for the bus to be completely sustainable… does anyone have suggestions on cooling options?
How hot is it getting inside?
Do you have any insulation? or is it just Aluminum?
It is overwhelmingly Hot……
It currently is in the original state of bare aluminium walls no insulation.
Most of the heat transfer seems to be coming in via the windows “single pane”. Heating will soon be a necessity as well.
Hey there, How’s the bus project going? We just bought a 58 Leyland and are hoping to do a similar thing here. We hope to watch and learn from you! The insulation thing sounds like a good idea. Also, have you thought about tinting the glass? We’re not sure what we’ll do with ours either. It still has the single pane too. Good luck with everything and keep in touch. Sincerely, Robin & Tim xoro70@hotmail.com or kydoubledecker@yahoo.com
It is nice to hear about your 58 Leyland. It would be great to see some photo’s of your project as you start making some progress.
The bus is making a debut in the fall fest here in Boulder.
We will be getting some uploaded photos online within the next week.
It is exciting to see the response that we have had to the bus.
I like your idea of tinting the windows. We talked over installing a red type material over the windows similar to what is placed on bus windows. I have found the best solution is to “park in the shade”. Although not always an option, it does help to keep the inside of the bus at a moderate temp.
We have found a product called Kalwall that appears to be a good option as well.
How did you happen upon BoulderSpace and the bus article?
Cheers…..