Design: Starting With Requirements

Our Airstream will end up behind the house operating as a home studio so there is a lot of work to be done to remodel it from it's current state to the new ideal.

What it looks like right now.

It is largely furnished with original appointments, many of which will need to go.  I've thought about this long and hard.  On one hand we could keep it in a tour-able state, alternatively we could optimise the layout for our specific purpose.  We just have to be ruthless and go with the latter and tear out everything that isn't required.  If we try to stay original / tour-able, there are just too many compromises to be made and this would chew into the trailer's utility as a studio.

One great example is the bathroom.  It would be handy to have a bathroom if we ever took the Airstream on the road but I'd be sacrificing a huge piece of floorspace for it.  That section could be (in fact probably will be) used as another workstation.

I guess that is a neat segue to a discussion about our requirements and what we expect to use the trailer for.

Requirements (in order of importance)
1.  Accommodate one or two creative professionals as they work.
I am a user experience designer 80% of the time and a film / television composer the remaining 20%.  There are some specific requirements that I have as a designer (such as a design wall) and as a music composer (like basic sound treatment) that need to be considered as well as space for equipment.
Ghita is a film / television editor and I'd like to have space in the trailer for her on the occasions when she has a job on.  I also have this dream of fulfilling my desire for collaboration by accommodating other designers on occasion - ideally these occasions wouldn't clash with when Ghita is working on a film as there isn't room for three in there.

I read that a fellow Airstreamer had sighted the following ethos in his renovation...

"Everything in the trailer must have at least two uses"

2.  Provide occasional sleeping accommodation for visiting friends and relatives.
The house is tiny and until we renovate there simply isn't room for people to stay.  It is a great spot and we expect friends to come up and spend time with us.  I'd like that experience to be as comfortable as possible.

3.  Be a focal point for entertaining. 
The Airstream will be a very unique fixture at our place and I suspect that we may spend some time around it.  It would be handy to be able to take lunch or a tea / whisky break out front or to work outside in the sun when the weather is good.  I expect to have a small deck and I have a few other tricky ideas.


Appointments
Essential
- 2 x Large work desks
- 1 x design wall (this is a space where you can pin the latest iterations of a design and post sticky notes with thoughts and ideas etc.)
- Space for 1 x 4 octave keyboard
- Space for 2 x guitars
- A small amount of storage space for music gear etc.

Ideal
- Small cocktail / tea station (possibly plumbed with sink and maybe cold water for a jug).
- Space for a small bar fridge
- Viewing facility - i.e. space to watch movies
- A couple of casual seats / couches inside for meetings or when extra clients / colleagues are about
- A small deck outside with a table and chairs large enough for 4-6 people to work or eat lunch around
- A lit pathway from the Airstream to the house

So that's what I need.  The next step is to start laying out ideas.

Matt.