This Airplane Conversion Makes for a Gorgeous, Quite Surprising Summer House

One way to cut down on waste and thus reduce the negative impact of our current lifestyle on the environment is to employ the principles of the three Rs: Reduce, Reuse, and Recycle. Upcycling should be right there on the list, but it doesn't start with an R, which probably explains its omission. But that doesn't change the reality: one way to get rid of existing trash is by incorporating it into new items, thus giving it additional functionality and an extended lifecycle.

An example that has come up a lot in recent years is the conversion of old, decommissioned aircraft into homes, whether mobile or not. Many old airplanes are destined for the junkyard or, at best, will be sold for their weight in metal, which is literally pennies to the dollar. Consequently, an old shell is a cheap starting point for a future home, provided you have the budget to transport it to your location and then for the actual conversion.

In return, airplanes come with all the electrics and plumbing already installed, are insulated, and, once you move past the challenging linear lineup, are ready to be transformed into habitable spaces. That said, the fact that the costs of the conversion are infinitely higher than whatever small amount you pay for the aircraft goes a long way to explain why there aren't that many conversions around – and why those that do exist tend to always make the headlines.

This is one of them, as well as a good example of the upcycling potential inherent in these aircraft. It's a Swiss Air Avro RJ 100 passenger jet that should have gone to the scrap yard but was salvaged and upcycled by Vince Essex, a self-declared aviation buff from Solihull, West Midlands, in England.

He turned the nose of the aircraft into the most surprising summer house slash lounge, and it rode two different news cycles: first when he unveiled it to the world on the popular TV show George Clarke's Amazing Spaces in 2018 and then in 2022 when the property with the summer house was listed for sale.

The Avro RJ 100, also known as British Aerospace 146, is a locally manufactured short-haul and regional airliner that was in production between 1983 and 2001. An estimate included in the TV presentation noted that, at its peak, it was probably worth some £50 million (approximately $63 million at the current exchange rate), but Steve got it virtually for nothing, at £750 ($946). By then, it had already lived a lucrative life.

Steve was – and is to this day – an aviation buff, so purchasing the old airliner was more of an obligation on his part than part of some great plan to turn it into what it is today. He ended up with the nose of the airliner in his backyard, so he started thinking about what uses he could put it to.

He roped in Stuart Abbott to help with the conversion. Abbott runs Stu-Art Aviation Furniture, which, as the name indicates, transforms airplane stuff into everyday objects, so he was definitely the right man for the job. The two worked to turn the 26-foot (7.9-meter) nose into something that would fit inside a backyard without sticking out like a sore thumb, with everyday functionality and a bonus of ingenuity.

First things first, the nose was cut horizontally so that it would look as if it was sitting flat on the ground. This alone involved drilling over 4,000 rivets and was but the first unexpected challenge in the entire conversion.

The cockpit was all but removed in the sense that all the buttons and the controls had to go. The duo kept the throttle controls, and Abbott built around them a custom glass table on which you could serve drinks. At the same time, some of the controls still ran, so with one press of the button and one pull of the lever, you could turn on all emergency lights.

Elements from the aircraft's previous life were kept: the seatbelts were turned into pillow decorations, the windows still had the original blinds, a chunk of the landing gear was turned into a lamp, and the original bathroom sink became an ice box to keep champagne bottles at the ideal chilled temp.

The space inside was divided into two main areas, both with bar potential and was basked in natural light from expansive glazing wherever possible. Steve spent an estimated £11,000 ($13,900) on the conversion, but he declared himself happy with having gotten, for this kind of money, a space for the entire family to enjoy. It must've helped that the conversion also brought him national fame thanks to the TV exposure.

The airplane lounge made the news again in 2022, when the property it was on listed for £1.25 million ($1.57 million). This price included the main house and an annex that doubled as a guest house but not the airplane lounge, which could be included in the deal after separate negotiations.

As the second video below shows, in the years since it'd been featured on the show, Dave had made some adjustments to the lounge, which further played on its aviation backstory but came at the cost of coziness. The first living area had been transformed through the addition of two rows of airplane seats facing each other, with another glass table in the middle, but the cocking area seemed to have been left intact.

Changes aside, the summer house/lounge remained a solid example of the beauty of upcycling, which goes beyond the knowledge that you're turning trash into something new.