RCA alumna’s futuristic lesbian rescue service making space to party

Before coming to the RCA, Lucy Nurnberg had a career in writing and journalism. Having completed a BA in Illustration at the University of Brighton she was the co-founding editor of Accent magazine. Looking to expand her creative skills and passion for subversive critical design into the 3D realm Lucy was drawn to the RCA’s Interior Design MA programme by its ideas driven approach. As she explained: “I always want to think big about what’s going into a design.”

This big thinking took Lucy to the creation of her “U-Haul Dyke Rescue Service, 2043”, a speculative design project set in a dystopian future. On graduation she realised the mobile bar she’d designed as part of this project would also provide a much needed space for celebrating lesbian, trans and marginalised queer communities in the present day. She launched a series of pop-up event spaces and club nights, based on the concept she’d developed at the RCA. These events create camp, inclusive and immersive spaces for “dykes of all genders and their friends to let loose”, as Lucy described in an interview with The Evening Standard.

We spoke to Lucy about her time at the RCA, and what it’s been like realising this project outside of university.

How did you find the Interior Design MA programme?

Immediately I was really impressed by the quality of teaching. I had a long gap between my BA and MA so it was an adjustment to be back in education. I remember thinking in every tutorial, I want to produce a lot for these people, because the expectation is high and they’re giving such great feedback.

When I started the course it was quite overwhelming. I didn’t really know any software and felt like everyone else had come from an interior design or architecture background. Other students gave me some pointers, and the IT department runs sessions in particular software. In the end I gravitated to what I could pick up most quickly, and then figured it out from there. The teaching staff really encourage you to find your own way to do things.

On the Interior Design MA, students join platforms exploring thematic concerns. Could you talk a bit about Super Futures, the platform you joined?

I loved the Super Futures platform. Everyone on the platform shared a studio. Like any student experience, you learn so much from the people around you.

There’s a different brief each year, but generally with Super Futures you are doing a speculative design project that’s set in the near future, between 10 to 30 years time.

The first part is world building, what you think the world might look like in a specific year. From there you develop a design proposal. The technology might be something that already exists, like a hotel, but it could also be something we don’t have yet, like an AI center.

What was your final project?

I was interested in doing something around what future subculture and resistance might look like, something that was organic and community led.

I imagined a future in 20 years time, where queer rights have gone backwards. Lots of people in Super Futures were imagining quite dystopian futures, but I also wanted to do something that was fun. My future is quite bleak, but within that I’ve created U-Haul Dyke Rescue Service, 2043, which is an underground lesbian-led emergency service for any queer person in need in London.

They have a fleet of vehicles which look like moving vans. Each has a different purpose. The Getaway Van does what it says on the tin and gets you away from the police, or street violence. The Pussy Wagon is a meditative cat cafe, and there are smaller vans, which are for any handy repairs, riffing on the idea that lesbians are typically a practical community group who can solve all of your problems.

The one that I wanted to design for my graduate project was the Mobile Dyke Bar. I projected that in this future, while being gay isn’t illegal, the government has introduced a Child Protection Act, which means that being visibly queer is legally murky. As a result of that, there’s no queer bars left in London, because they're not allowed to be within a mile of a school. In that setting, the lack of queer space is a state of emergency.

The idea is this van finds a different quiet corner of the city to pull up in each night. It’s a standard Luton van; you can probably only fit 15 people inside, but it’s also a transformer, so the side flips down to expand its footprint. If you’re in the right kind of parking lot you can entertain hundreds of people.

The name is taken from U-Haul in America. But it’s also a well known lesbian joke: “What does a lesbian bring to a second date? A U-Haul van.” (Because they move so quickly in relationships.) I thought more people actually knew that, but pretty much everyone outside the community I spoke to didn’t know the joke. So I thought this is brilliant, it really works in being this secret in-joke for those in the know.

Were there particular things in the present moment that motivated this work?

I was definitely motivated by the closure of queer spaces that we’ve seen in London and around the world in recent years. It’s been suggested that queer spaces aren’t necessary anymore because we’re so assimilated that you can be at home anywhere. But I don’t think that’s the case.

Over the past few years, with increasing right-wing populism, I felt like we are in this era that feels a bit like the 1980s in some ways. Drag queens and queer people generally are being villainised in this way that is supposedly about protecting the kids. I was very aware of that at the time. And thinking, well, what will happen if this continues…

What I love about the queer community is that when we’ve faced really difficult times, the response is often joy and humour. No matter what is going on outside, we can create our own worlds. I wanted to do something that was for myself, that felt quite hopeful.

The concept comes across really well through the visuals you created. Could you talk about how you developed the visual identity?

The briefs we were set led us through the process. One of the first things we had to make was a narrative prop. This was a one-to-one scale thing – it could be a key or a handle, it could be a piece of clothing – that lets people get a sense of a small part of your world.

Some of the tutors suggested it would really help to start thinking about the characters and the people because that was driving my idea. So I created a bit of their locker room, and made license plates, and a leather jacket with some words painted on the back. It was super simple, but showed the style of these people.

Then there was a really fast-paced brief to either make a 90 second film, or a photo series that communicated this world and also showed three interiors. I chose to do a photo series. I cast lots of friends as members of my Uhaul Rescue service. That really helped bring people into the world.

Where did you take your final degree project next?

After I graduated I decided to create the Mobile Dyke Bar for real, although I went back and forth a bit, thinking about how much work it would take. The more I thought about it, I realised it would be a really good festival venue. I pitched it to a few places and found all of the work that I’d produced on the course, all of that communication that I’d done around the squad, those photos, was helpful to really let people in.

This summer we brought the Mobile Dyke Bar to a number of festivals and pop-up events. My first festival booking was at Mighty Hoopla in June 2024. It was a lot of work, but so much fun. We transformed two Luton vans into a fantasy dyke bar, built a huge light-up sign for the top and hosted arm wrestling tournaments all weekend that drew huge crowds. We did a couple of events at The Yard Theatre in Hackney Wick, including a day-to-night party that went from selling drinks in the yard into our very first club night. We’ve also taken the Mobile Dyke Bar to Field Maneuvers festival in Norfolk and hosted pop-ups at The Clapham Grand, Queer Bloomsbury festival at Charleston House and V&A Late.

How has it been making the transition from a speculative design project into a business?

It has been amazing, but tough. I knew that the summer would be a huge learning curve in terms of logistics. The formula changes depending on where it’s being hosted, but generally the Mobile Dyke Bar exists in one or two rented Luton vans which I’ve fitted with a bespoke interior. Obviously I can’t drill into the vehicles because I have to send them back, so everything is designed to clamp into place and pack down easily afterwards.

It’s been amazing to see my drawings become a real space that people were actually getting to experience and inhabit. That’s when a space comes alive. This is what I love about interior design; space affects the way that we behave so much. Designing a space to encourage people to feel a certain way or interact with each other and then seeing those tricks pay off, that’s so fun.

Where’s it going next? Is it going to continue as a pop up, or do you have plans for something more permanent?

I’m enjoying not necessarily knowing where it’s going, just letting it lead, and seeing what opportunities come up. I quite like the idea of it being a temporary transient space. It feels liberating that it can be fluid and exist in different forms.

The first summer was key in introducing the concept to the world, getting a good portfolio of clients and learning loads of lessons about what worked well and not so well as a touring festival venue. Now that it’s winter, we’re focusing more of our energy on the club nights – at the last one we converted a club room into the secret UHaul garage headquarters which was lots of fun.

We’re now looking ahead to next summer and pitching to some of our dream festivals in the UK and Europe. And one day we’d love to do our own festival in a field somewhere!

It’s interesting to think about your trajectory, starting with illustration, coming to study Interior Design, and now you are doing events programming. Is this what you expected to come from your time at the RCA?

Going into and during the programme, I didn’t think I’d be a traditional interior designer when I graduated. I wanted to gain those skills, but I’ve always liked doing millions of different things. What I’m doing now is better than I could have dreamed of, because it's combining all of my interests. When I ran a magazine, I was doing lots of events and programming. So that part of it feels natural. But adding the spatial element, and all of the business parts of it, has been so much fun.

Were there any skills, tools or ideas that the RCA gave you that you’re now using day-to-day?

I gained so many ways of critically thinking and understanding space. It was really useful learning to question everything: why this material? Why this group of people? What do you want to encourage to happen here? How do you want people to feel? Just having that in your mind all the time is really good for designing any space.