We were so excited to learn that an Israeli pair transformed an old bus into an attractive luxury home, until we saw what materials they used. Looking for an opportunity to make some money, Tally Saul and Hagit Morevski used such carbon-intensive and toxic materials as cement, concrete and formica to complete their ungreen conversion.
Neither Saul nor Morevski are untrained fly-by-nighters looking for a get rich quick scheme.
Saul is a psychotherapist , according to Xnet, as well as a former marketing executive, while Morevski is an ecological pond water treatment specialist and a CEO partner of Goglass.
They decided to do the bus conversion after Saul read about alternative housing, and soon found themselves with a junked up Dan bus that measures 2.5 by 12 feet. See below.
After staring at the thing for several days uncertain how to proceed, the duo decided to stick as close to the original spirit of the bus as possible.
With help from Ward Design, they sunk into their interior plan, which was largely dictated by the awkward dimensions; they eventually decided to keep the windows, wheels and handles and fill up the vast spaces between with luxury furnishings.
The new floor resembles the old somewhat, and they had to level out the slope with some carpentry, and they even managed to preserve and restore pieces of the old to furnish the new – including a suite of aluminum frames and the original doors.
But then the project takes somewhat of a kitsch turn.
Instead of breathable natural materials befitting to such an enclosed space, like bamboo, for example, the design team added orange vinyl diner-styled seating, formica finishings in both the bathroom and kitchen, a velvet-covered couch and other such weirdness.
Their intentions were pure – if you can call a $300,000 price tag lobbed on the final result pure, but we wouldn’t want to be trapped inside with all those materials off-gassing.
:: Xnet
Images via Lior Danzig
Author: Tafline Laylin
As a tour leader who led “eco-friendly” camping trips throughout North America, Tafline soon realized that she was instead leaving behind a trail of gas fumes, plastic bottles and Pringles. In fact, wherever she traveled – whether it was Viet Nam or South Africa or England – it became clear how inefficiently the mandate to re-think our consumer culture is reaching the general public. Born in Iran, raised in South Africa and the United States, she currently splits her time between Africa and the Middle East. Tafline can be reached at tafline (at) greenprophet (dot) com.
Get it going, Michelle. Sounds like a great idea.
Does it still drive…like a fancy RV or is it stationary? If it’s stationary, who’s going to spend that much money on it? Having been to the shtachim (West Bank settlements), kibbutzim and small villages in the north like Hararit, my experience is that people out there build their own stuff for far less money (and to their own taste in decor/design). Not to say they’re environmentalists using bamboo (and no concrete/cement) – this isn’t Portland, Oregon or the Bay Area, California. On the other hand, Israelis have had solar water heaters since maybe the late 70s? But you’ve given me a good idea by expecting so much green consideration in any Israeli renovation (which we know full well NOT to be the very greenest part of Israeli culture). We should have a GREEN Home Show, where people from across the country can learn about all different types of environmentally friendly materials and ways to renovate the home…I’ll mention it to my colleagues at SPNI.