Land Rover’s festive cabin
Forget the grotto: here’s a coldweather cabin that fits inside a compact SUV.
Land Rover has created a compact Christmas cabin with space for two adults to sleep snugly in North Pole temperatures as low as -20 degrees.
Nothing revolutionary in that – except that the whole thing folds down to fit in the rear of the brand’s Discovery Sport SUV.
No more chilly grotto for Santa, then?
Land Rover engineers carefully used every bit of the Sport’s 1698-litre rear load space to carry the wooden cabin’s components.
Even the glove box, cup holders and door bins were filled with nuts, bolts and festive decorations.
The Christmas cabin was tested in Land Rover’s own cold climate chamber, in which all Land Rovers are subjected to subfreezing temperatures, by mountaineer and 12-times Everest climber Kenton Cool (yes, that is his real name).
It was then transported by Discovery Sport – not sleigh – to its final secret location in the heart of the frozen wilderness.
‘‘There is a growing trend for off-grid living and ‘wilderness cabins’ and only Land Rover could create a ‘go anywhere’ cabin like this. The design is cleverly engineered and incredibly robust, making it perfect for remote locations across the world,’’ says Cool.
Helen Ali and Muhammed Malik from the Land Rover Vehicle Packaging Team helped design and build the cabin to get the most from every millimetre of space in the Discovery Sport.
‘‘We wanted to create a Christmas cabin for Santa, in a truly Land Rover way. The Sport was perfect for this project. The seats can be folded flat at the push of a button from the load space, which is wide and square and there are plenty of hidden storage spaces like the area under the front cup-holders.
‘‘Building a cabin that utilised all these features was a lot of fun. We could have built this in one of our bigger models, but we wanted to prove just how versatile the baby of the Discovery family truly is,’’ says Ali, Land Rover’s vehicle package team leader.
Land Rover engineers made a virtual model of the cabin to get the most from every millimetre of space. Then they worked with specialist Danish architects Lumo to build it from sustainable materials.
Designed to have a minimal impact on the environment, it rests on 212mm wooden struts that exactly match the Discovery Sport’s ride height. The cabin shares several features with Discovery models, including an optional tailgate seat on the deck.
The wide horizontal door opening is inspired by the vehicle’s full-length panoramic roof and provides epic landscape views. There’s a solar charger on the roof, while lights and a kettle can be connected to the Discovery Sport’s 12V power socket.
‘‘Our cabin also had to be sustainable and easily transportable. We are used to working with VIP clients at Land Rover, but this was definitely one of the most unusual,’’ says Mailk.