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tim.

Degree Project 2026

Tradespeople working in Swedish cities face a daily conflict between the demands of their profession and an urban environment increasingly designed to reduce car dependency. Finding parking near job sites can cost hours each week, and tightening environmental zones threaten to restrict van access to city centres altogether. Yet the tools, materials and bulky goods that define the tradesperson's workday have made the van feel irreplaceable, practically and psychologically. This project explores what it would take to genuinely replace it. Developed in collaboration with Cyklande Rörmokaren, a plumbing, carpentry and electrical firm operating entirely by cargo bike in central Stockholm, the project investigates how a purpose-built electric cargo bike could meet the real demands of the trade while earning professional credibility in a sector resistant to change.

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Project Information

Around 354,000 people work in the Swedish construction trades, the majority in dense urban areas. Research confirmed that cargo biking is already viable for urban tradespeople, with Cyklande Rörmokaren demonstrating that cyclists can complete two to three more jobs per day compared to van-based colleagues. However, a clear gap exists: available cargo bikes are designed for general use and lack the storage systems, load solutions and visual language that tradespeople require. Industry culture proved equally significant a barrier as practicality. A new vehicle must not only function as a professional tool, it must look like one.

Methods

The project followed the Double Diamond design process. Combined desktop research, field studies with Cyklande Rörmokaren, interviews with tradespeople across plumbing, electrical and carpentry, and hands on testing cargo bikes, gave me the understanding of key challenges and needs.

Based on these insights, along with produced personas, user journeys and detailed material- and function lists, the critical design challenge proved to be oversized loads such as drywall sheets, pipes and toilet units, rather than everyday tool transport. The need for the vehicle to project professionalism became a formal design criteria alongside function. Further I developed concepts and used the iterative process of silhouette sketching, 3D modeling and detailing to design a strong professional expression.

Result

The outcome is tim. (Tools in Motion), a purpose-built electric-assist cargo bike designed specifically for urban tradespeople. The vehicle is intended to demonstrate that the van can, to a significant extent, be replaced by a lighter alternative in city environments, reducing emissions, congestion and parking pressure while improving daily efficiency.

tim. is built around two integrated storage units. The front box accommodates tools and materials behind a locking aluminium roller shutter, with a lower through-drawer accessible from both sides. The rear unit houses three standardised tool boxes on a rail system, each removable individually or together, and both units locked independently. Large side surfaces are left free for company branding, because as one interviewee put it, a tradesperson's vehicle is a rolling billboard.

Dedicated solutions address the most challenging loads. A sliding floor extension and front stop allow sheets to be carried flat and strapped securely. Pipes feed through a port in the front box, and a toilet unit loads through a side door.

The sliding rear unit counterbalances asymmetric loads throughout.

The design language draws deliberately on the van it is meant to replace, with plastic lower trim, a strong horizontal body line and clear interaction points, while the exposed rear frame signals its identity as a bicycle.

tim. is a concept that asks not whether tradespeople can adapt to a cargo bike, but whether a cargo bike can be designed to fully meet the demands of the trade.