Cankuna Sunshine Collective Is a Vintage Skoolie Turned Studio, Store, Cafe, and Home

German environmentalists Lara and Julian had their minds set on embarking on a tiny living journey just after finishing school, so they decided to live out their newly acquired independence in a VW T3 bus.

It was fun at first but eventually ended up having normal jobs, rent to pay, and typical work hours. This didn’t make them happy, though, so in 2019, they bought a 1989 Bluebird International, an American school bus, and started work on their skoolie conversion.

They started the Cankuna Sunshine Collective project around the same time, an endeavor that sees the bus being used as a rolling studio, café, and store at the same time. At the moment, they travel with their home on wheels across Europe, and when they happen to stay for longer in a certain place, they also help others realize their tiny living dream by accepting jobs to build bus conversions or tiny houses.

When they’re on the road, they design different products, art illustrations, sell art and coffee at markets and festivals, and also get involved in marine conservation projects and fundraisers.

Mrs. Robinson, as they christened their 30-year-old school-bus-turned-home-on-wheels, is a vintage motorhome that serves not only as a living space but also as their work place. To put it in their own words, “Mrs. Robinson is the most beautiful, cozy, and adventurous home we’ve ever had!”

Before landing in their possession, the Bluebird International had been used for about 20 years for rental and promotional purposes at a beach sports hall in their area.

The ex-school bus wasn’t exactly in good condition. Thirty years of use had left their mark, after all, so the bus came with a fair amount of rust, graffiti on the right side and window, as well as a few leaks. But this didn’t deter their enthusiasm. They started to work on the conversion right away and 14 months of hard work later, they moved in and started their traveling adventure.

They gutted the bus completely, getting rid of the bus seats, rubber mats, and the interior paneling. A few days of work and several trips to the scrap yard later, they had 20 square meters (215 square feet) of free space to work with.

Nonetheless, given that Julian could not stand upright inside the 185-cm high bus, the next thing on their agenda was to raise the roof. They cut the bus open and changed the body to their liking. Then they insulated all the walls, installed underfloor heating, laid the power lines, and installed a boiler and a wood stove so they could use renewable resources for their heating needs.

When entering the home through the porch, you get inside the kitchen/living area, where they cook, eat, do dishes, hang out, and work.

All the furniture inside the motorhome is made by themselves or repurposed. Their aim was to make practical pieces built with sustainable materials and also make them look pretty.

As such, they turned an old chest of drawers into a washstand, while some dolls’ cupboards serve as wall units in the kitchen area. Similarly, part of a closet became their sofa in the living space.

The sleeping area has a fixed bed because they wanted to be able to just lie down whenever they wanted. The bed stands on an old workshop chest of drawers, which also serves as their closet, and a beam screwed to the wall.

Finally, the 1.2-square-meter (13-sq-ft) bathroom includes a separation toilet and a shower. They didn’t use tiles in the shower stall because of the added weight, but they instead plastered the walls and gave them a concrete look, sealed them with three layers of boat paint, and also installed a skylight.

The entire project has a vintage vibe due to the sustainable materials used and the minimalist style they adopted. It looks cozy and warm and just perfect for two environmentalists to live and travel in.

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