5 Things to Consider in a Shipping Container Conversion
Boomerang Container Home in Wye River
Now for something that shipping container architecture does very well: a radical, stunning new home on stilts in Wye River, Victoria.
A weekend retreat with a difference
Designed by Studio Edwards architects, this home consists of three, 20ft shipping containers that are in a boomerang shape, cantilevered on stilts on the hillside above the ocean.
The Studio Edwards website states, “Two [shipping containers] connect to form the living space with toilet, laundry & entry. The third [shipping container is] a sleeping wing with two bedrooms, toilet & shower. Connected by a external deck on steel stilts which sit on deep concrete pile foundations- anchoring the house to the hillside.”
Sat on stilts the home is almost at tree height owing to the steepness of the hillside on the plot.
Image source: Studio Edwards
Speaking to the Geelong Advertiser, Ben Edwards of Studio Edwards architects said, “It’s a spectacular site and location. We tried to make something that’s sympathetic to the surrounds. It’s such a beautiful part of the world.”
Edwards also said to Domain.com.au, “The home sits on a substructure which is cantilevered out over the hillside. It’s quite high up amongst the trees and you see these crazy birds I’d never heard of before, buzzing around up there.”
The container home is clad in steel that is designed to reflect much of the heat of the day away from the inside.
Speaking to the Geelong Advertiser, Michael Coutts of Great Ocean Real Estate said, “In that sort of harsh environment it will be there forever and a day,” adding that he felt the building was ‘bulletproof’, reflecting on the harsh environment that comes with being a seashore dwelling in an area prone to bush fires.
Seems like quite a spot!
Look inside
Image source: Studio Edwards
Inside the shipping container boomerang home is refined in decor and quite stunningly fitted out in such a way that its central focus is the scenery outside rather than having many distractions inside.
Heavily insulated to protect against the heat and cold, the three container home is internally clad in marine ply that is claimed to be able to take the worst of the weather. Fitted with state of the art triple glazing for to ceiling windows, the weather shouldn’t be a problem unless the windows are fully opened to the elements during a storm!
Image source: Studio Edwards
Designed to celebrate the outdoors, the holiday home has no internal corridors – when coming from the sleeping block to the living area you walk along the decking outside. This maximises the space within yet forcibly engages the person with the stunning environment around them. They shouldn’t need forcing – this luxury home is there solely for those who fully appreciate the outdoors!
The shipping containers can also be reconfigured by opening up one of the original shipping container door to connect the living room with the bedrooms if you so wish.
See a video of the home here:
Touching the earth lightly
The roof of the home is described by the Melbourne based architects: “A green roof planted with native dichondra sits above providing additional thermal insulation & blends into the surrounding landscape.” This isn’t the only way the home reaches out to plant life – the architect’s website continues, “The northern face of the house has fixings to allow for planting wires to connect to the ground, encouraging native plants to grow over the house. “
Eventually the home could be entirely entwined by greenery and inhabited by fauna from the area. Birds could nest in the trees that grow over the home, feeding on the microfauna and fruits of the trees around.
Image source: Daily Mail
On stilts there are no major foundations on which the house sits. Concrete costs a tonne of carbon per tonne produced so with minimal use of the stuff, so it is considerably less impactful on the environment than perhaps a terrace-based home might in the same location.
Shipping container homes are often very light-footed where it comes to environmental impact. As a start they may be considered ‘waste’ in the first place with so many millions being otherwise left to rot around the world having finished their global travels. Yes, in repurposing a shipping container you are recycling a waste product.
Being a pre-made box they can be made quickly off-site using minimal energy and resources. They are then brought to site and often over just a few weeks can be put in place and made habitable.
Even for container homes that are flat on the ground they only require small piles to be driven into the ground as foundations. In the case of the boomerang home, these have been made into stilts, almost celebrating the minimal footprint of the home in its own right.
Holiday home
Image source: Studio Edwards
While I as a writer am drooling over this home as a place to live permanently, not everyone is so fortunate that they can be digital nomads and work wherever they choose. Most people have to go to the office for a living and are rather tied up as to where they can live.
The advantage is that often, they can earn a bit more than those who live free and easy can so might be able to put a deposit down on a home like this – it has been valued at some $750,000, which is a bit above what your ordinary Joe on an average income can afford for their main home let alone as a holiday bolthole!
The home in question has been let on Airbnb and has apparently been occupied much of the year since it was first put on the market. That makes it a great business proposition – perhaps to be sold as a self-financing holiday home where paying guests can pay your mortgage and you popping in to stay for a couple of weeks a year. With a business plan and potentially as a business operation, then it could be reachable as long as you could get a deposit together (perhaps in remortgaging the home you have?)…
Whoever you might be as a potential owner in buying into this stunning home in its hideaway location you will have a piece of paradise.
If by the time you read this blog it is off the market keep an eye out as Edwards has made it plain he has his eyes on other plots of land in Wye River with a view to building some new, original and luxury properties that, given his track record here, could end up on the Gateway Gazette in fairly short order!
Gateway Container Sales
We sell shipping containers that can be repurposed in almost any way imaginable. Have a read through the Gateway Gazette for ideas, or if you are already interested in developing a specific project then perhaps drop us a line to discuss your needs!
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