When buses get to the end of their lifespans, what happens to them? Well, if Hawaiian architecture firm Group 70 International gets its way, old city buses will have a whole new life ahead of them as mobile shelters, services, and recreation rooms. Together with volunteer organization LIFT, they’re hoping to complete renovations on 70 buses using donated materials.
The buses will become a fleet of community resources, including homeless shelters.
Volunteers will remove the seats and other interior fixtures. They will then install new interiors for the buses’ new purpose.
This design shows a bus that’s been turned into a produce stand.
A bus like this could provide fresh, healthy foods to “food desert” areas without access to nutritional food.
Homelessness has lately been a huge problem in Hawaii, specifically on the island of Oahu. The local government there has earned criticism for their treatment of the homeless, including one suggestion to move the homeless population to another island. This project tackles the issue head-on, and would provide shelter, safety, and hygienic services to the homeless.
This design shows a bus that’s been turned into a shelter for homeless people.
Some buses will have sleeping areas, and others will have showers that homeless people can use. The buses can even be divided in the center, so two families can use one bus and still have their privacy.
(via BoredPanda, Inhabitat)
Group 70 is just beginning this project, and hopes to complete two buses by the end of this summer. They have planned on designing the renovations to be easy to assemble, even by untrained volunteers. That way, the project can come together more quickly and get services available to people as soon as possible.
