Purunã Observatory - Shipping Container Educational Astronomy Science Building





Floor plans / Drawings
About Bruno Zaitter


ProjectObservatório Purunã (Purunã Observatory)
ArchitectsBruno Zaitter architect
Area45 m²
Containers1 x 40 ft and 1 x 20 ft
Year2020
LocationBalsa Nova, Brazil
ManufacturersBerneck, Blue Glass, Gerdal, Monte Claro Woods






Description by the project team. 

The Purunã Observatory, located in the Metropolitan Region of the city of Curitiba, is a space designed to view the universe in a didactic way. This is a dream of a photographer who loves space and its natural phenomena.

Built in just 38 days, this project has a large part of donated materials. Among these materials, two shipping containers (a 12 meter shipping container and another 6 meter long shipping container) were used as a structural solution for fast, clean and economical construction.

Inside the 6 meter long shipping container there is an exclusive space for a telescope. Right in front of you there is a concrete deck to slide the machinery, and then you can view the sky in full. In the 12 meter long container, there is a classroom and a dormitory for two people, both equipped with a sanitary installation.

The wooden deck and roof are used to enhance the experience of watching the stars and everything else that the sky has. The east, west and south façades are completely lined with planks of high claved pine wood. However, the north façade reveals the use of shipping containers as a shelter amid local agriculture.

4x45 ft Shipping Container Home with Metal Siding, Northern Ireland





Floor plans, Drawings
About Patrick Bradley Architects




ProjectGrillagh Water House
ArchitectsPatrick Bradley Architects
Containers4x45 ft
Area115 m² (1240 ft²)
Bedrooms3
Year2014
LocationNorthern Ireland
PhotosAidan Monaghan Photography
Technical ArchitectAD Group
Structural EngineeringJoe Young Engineering
Construction companyThornton Roofing


Located on the banks of the Grillagh River - for residents known as Pixies Paradise - the young architect Patrick Bradley designed his shipping container house, set in the countryside in Northern Ireland next to the historic and picturesque Drumlamph Woodland, which is what remains of the "Great Killetra Forest", which would have once covered the whole of Northern Ireland.

Unlike any other house that has ever been designed and built within Northern Ireland, this house takes a completely new approach to rural Irish countryside architecture. With the concept of enhancing agricultural buildings spread across the countryside, the house is a refreshing approach to contemporary 21st century Irish architecture.

The house is the first modern construction made in a shipping container designed and built in Northern Ireland, with a primary structure composed of four 13.7 meter (45 ft) containers, which merge to form two cantilevered volumes. The 45 ft shipping containers are lined with an expanded metal of dark gray in the shape of the upper part and with natural corten steel in the lower shape, where the soil can be considered a work of sculptural art located in the landscape surrounding the project. The design of the spaces was expertly designed to make the most of the magnificent views of the place, a picturesque landscape of the surrounding mountains, the historic Drumlamph forest and the Grillagh River (Salmon River).

When approaching the home, you can travel along a path buried with dry stone walls on both sides, separating the limits of the place surrounded by agricultural fields. At the end of the access, you reach the 4x45 ft shipping container home with metal siding, and with a small elevation, you will find the main entrance door in orange color, with a balcony on a small swing above.

The main entrance to the shipping container home is located on the top floor, on the north side of the site, which takes us through a small entrance gallery into the living room, openly planned, with kitchen, dining room and living room. This area was designed to have a free flow circulation, which also takes us to the two areas of balconies external to the South and West. One of the three bedrooms is behind a hidden door to the entrance gallery. The location and position of the upper floor were designed to make the most of the view and natural sunlight, since it is also in this area of ​​the house that some emotion is provided regarding a relaxing and calm atmosphere. Between the kitchen and the dining room rests the box of the steel sculpture-ladder that leads down to the ground floor level.




When descending the stairs, there is a large window framing the view of the natural stone and once you reach the level of the lower floor, you are exposed to the entire bathroom through a large internal screen, which includes an incredible and suspended projected hammock, and towards the east, a sliding glass door that gives access to a room, overlooks the surrounding agricultural fields and a cattle feeder, which provides a barrier between farm animals and the house. Located next to the bathroom is the bedroom, which also gives access to the outside gardens with a large balcony swinging above, towards the south. At the end of the small circulation hall there is a hidden door that leads to the main bedroom. The interior design layout of this room follows a hotel style, with the shower area open with a large internal screen, providing a beautiful view over the bed for the historic Drumlamph Wood. Hidden behind a frosted glass wall is the bathroom and sink. The dormitory itself is located in the most protected area of ​​the 4x45 ft shipping container home with a large glass window with incredible views and the only sound around it, that of the forest's wildlife and the flowing water of the Grillagh River. The feeling of tranquility and privacy at the lower level provides a completely different feeling than the feeling at the upper level.

The aesthetics and general forms of the 4x45 ft shipping container home, built as a sculptural house, in a completely rural environment, in a very modest size of only 115 m², provide everything you need to have the perfect family home.

3 Bedroom Tropical Shipping Container Home, Indonesia






Floor plans / Drawings
About Atelier Riri





ArchitectAtelier Riri
Area155 m² (1670 ft²)
Containers4
Bedrooms3
Year2014
LocationJatiasih, Indonesia
PhotographsTeddy Yunantha
Architect In ChargeArga Putra Rachman
Project DirectorNovriansyah Yakub
Construction companyASKALA Indonesia


Description by the project team. 

Atelier Riri was challenged to design a 3 bedroom shipping container home using reused containers, in an area of ​​150 sqm.

The tropical shipping container home is located in Bekasi, a suburb near the big city of Jakarta. Where there are homes for young couples with 2 children. In addition to the basic necessities, and bringing the family together in a living space, the owners also wanted to add a hobby room as an activity area for the children and their parents.

The 3 bedroom shipping container home consists of 4 overlapping and crisscrossing installed shipping containers. These containers serve secondary needs, such as the hobby room, especially since space is limited and thermal comfort is still below average, although several additional layers have actually been added to the ceiling to lower the interior temperature. This includes the installation of a metal mesh for plant propagation and glass wool insulation over the pine wood.

The movement of people inside the tropical shipping container home, is continuous, exploring each space that could be more entertaining for the occupants. Stairs and ramps reach each floor and the part of the house that is divided by a large void in its center. We also made additional space by using a wooden deck on the top. This space can be used to gather the family while enjoying the fresh air in the morning or midday.

To continue the spirit of recycling materials, all the wood in the project is used pine. The metal plates are arranged to form a connection between the container frame and the door. We also focus on reducing materials, such as floors, made of polished concrete, unfinished wood furniture, and brick wall that was only painted to reduce the use of cement.





The roof garden is also used as an extended space from the containers.

We strongly believe that this 3 bedroom shipping container home will give a new definition to contemporary tropical Indonesian homes.

La Casa Container - 2 Bedroom Shipping Container Home, Argentina





Floor plans / Drawings
Diagrams / Schemes
About José Schreiber Architect
About Estudio Scharq






ProjectLa Casa Container
ArchitectJosé Schreiber Architect
Area195 m²
Containers2
Bedrooms2
Year2014
LocationSan Francisco, Argentina
Project And Construction ManagementJosé Miguel Schreiber
CollaboratorMaria Laura Gonzalez
Structural CalculationGuillermo Velazquez
Budget$ 1,180,000 ARS
PhotosRamiro Sosa

Description by the project team. 

Daily life mobilizes us at a dizzying pace. Starting with the choice of the neighborhood, located on the outskirts of San Francisco (Argentina), going through the acquisition of the lot and defining itself in the project, "La Casa Container", it aims to be a resting place away from the center, characterized by the environmental quality of its immediate context. The versatility of its spaces accompanies the changes in contemporary ways of life and family composition.

La Casa Container is a result of a search for technical, aesthetic and functional innovation. Its morphology is made up of two metal boxes arranged in an "L", which structure the ground floor containing all the services (entrance, kitchen and pantry in one container. Laundry room, bathroom, barbecue, workshop and warehouse in another).

The void between the two boxes is where public life takes place: barbecue and dining room. Above them, on the upper floor, is the unifying element of the complex: a large solid volume of traditional construction that gravitates on the shipping containers, sheltering the private area of ​​bedrooms and bathroom inside.

This 2 bedroom shipping container home project is characterized by responding to three basic premises: technological innovation, construction speed and simplification of materials. The maritime containers arose as a response to the original design of the house, which sought to use elements originally conceived for another function, recycling them to face a new challenge.

Its interiors are conditioned with polyurethane foam, which in ceilings was painted with latex, leaving it visible and in vertical walls it was covered with gypsum rock panels, hiding facilities. In lightened slabs, the same logic is followed, painting and highlighting the constructive elements that compose it. All the floors are made of smoothed cement, accompanying the spatial continuity of the La Casa Container shipping container home thanks to its large seamless panels.




To the outside, the 2 bedroom shipping container home is closed by a blind facade to preserve privacy and protect itself from the most pernicious orientations (South and West). The openings located towards the street were made using the steel sheet extracted from the openings in the shipping containers, the access door is the best example. Inside, its rooms open up to the green of the patio, enjoying the best orientations for these latitudes (north and east), making the most of natural lighting and ventilation throughout the day. Here, the openings are made of high-performance aluminum with hermetic double glazing for proper habitability.

50 sqm 1 Bedroom Prefab Shipping Container Houses, Brazil





About Hotel Fazenda Cainã
About Bruno Zaitter


Simple Shipping Container Home Built with 2x40 ft Containers and Elevated Roof

It is a place that invites you to live more simply, freely and lightly.




Floor plans / Drawings
About Plannea Arquitectura
About Constanza Domínguez





ProjectCasa Abierta Container (Open House Container)
ArchitectsConstanza Domínguez C., Plannea Arquitectura
Area95 m²
Containers1x40 ft HC and 1x40 ft STD
Year2019
LocationLa Compañía, Chile
SuppliersBASF, Ceresita, Cintac, Cintac®, Melón Hormigones, Pizarreño, Volcan, Winko, Acma, Behr Specialty, Containers Patagonia, Ferretería Higuerillas, Rotoplastic, Transaco, Villalba

Description by project team.

It was born as an urgent and circumstantial project. This then transforms into an elemental space, giving the feeling of versatility, flexibility and connection to nature.

Open House Container can be used as a home or as a multi-purpose space. The two containers are connected by a large cover (elevated roof), which produces an open space. This allows the house to be extended and transformed at certain times of the day in an artistic workshop or architectural office and at other times in a yoga room and a crossfit box.

It is a place that invites you to live more simply, freely and lightly. A direct relationship with nature is established in its close relationship with the outside. The habitable module has large windows that connect the interior space with the surroundings, giving the feeling of expansion.

The project has a minimum of environmental impact, since elements decommissioned from the industrial world (shipping containers) and the agricultural world (fruit pallets for furniture) were used. The main advantages of this system are recycling, speed of construction, cost reduction and optimization of materials.

The project sought to solve the need to install a warehouse in a reused 40´STD maritime container (interior height 2.40 m). To take advantage of the space and give it a more versatile use, a second module was added, consisting of a reused 40'HC maritime container (interior height 2.70m) that enabled a bedroom, a common space and a bathroom.

The parallel arrangement separated by 6 meters between the two modules generates an intermediate space that is covered with a higher metallic structure (elevated roof) that covers the entirety of the 2 containers. The resulting space is transformed into a habitable solution with an articulating role between the 2 elements.

Components

Understanding the project by the parts that make it up.

  • Environment: Natural context of soft hills, protective trees and silence.
  • Container warehouse: It plays a fundamental role as a support for the intermediate space by having its entire longitudinal face closed.
  • Habitable Container: It fulfills the function of solving the need for a room and being indoors.
  • Intermediate space: Being open at both ends, it becomes a semi interior and exterior space with a multi-purpose.
  • Elevated Roof: Provides spaciousness and gives a feeling of shelter. It generates an effect of thermal regulator due to air circulation due to the height difference and for having its perimeter open. Its slope allows the use of a second level on the warehouse container.
  • Wraparound layer: The wood cladding adds warmth and harmony, breaking with the hardness of the metal. It works as a ventilated façade as it is separated from the metal cladding and ventilated at both ends.
  • Stove: It acts as a finish to the intermediate space, providing a cozy and intimate touch, integrating the landscape with the construction.




Products used in this work:

Volcanite for interior - gypsum cardboard - Volcan
METALCON® construction system - Cintac®