Architecture

Shipping container home increases living space with sheltered exterior

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Container House was designed by Plannea Arquitectura and Constanza Domínguez Claro, and is located in Chile
Constanza Domínguez Claro
Container House consists of two shipping containers. One contains a bedroom, bathroom and living room, while the other is used for storage
Constanza Domínguez Claro
Container House's bedroom includes two beds and generous glazing has been cut into the container to frame the views of the rural landscape
Constanza Domínguez Claro
Container House includes a living room with sofa and a small dining/office table. The decor is simple and consists of wood on the walls, floor, and roof
Constanza Domínguez Claro
Container House's semi-outdoor area has seating that's made from old wooden pallets used to transport fruit
Constanza Domínguez Claro
Container House's semi-outdoor living area includes a small kitchenette and a dining area
Constanza Domínguez Claro
Container House includes two hammock chairs and some children's play equipment is nearby
Constanza Domínguez Claro
Container House's two shipping containers are painted a uniform black and are clad in wood, helping to mitigate the poor thermal performance of the metal boxes
Constanza Domínguez Claro
Container House measures 95.3 sq m (1,022 sq ft)
Constanza Domínguez Claro
Container House was designed by Plannea Arquitectura and Constanza Domínguez Claro, and is located in Chile
Constanza Domínguez Claro
View gallery - 9 images

Love them or hate them, shipping containers continue to spark the imaginations of architects worldwide. The latest example is the Container House, a vacation home expands its limited living space with a sheltered outdoor multipurpose area.

Container House (aka Casa Abierta Container) was designed by Plannea Arquitectura and Constanza Domínguez Claro, and is located in rural Chile. It measures 95.3 sq m (1,022 sq ft) and came about when Domínguez Claro wanted to install a container on some family-owned land for storage use. The idea was then hit upon that it could be used as an opportunity to create a vacation home too.

The containers measure 40 ft (12.1 m) in length each. One has a height of 2.40 m (7.9 ft), while the other is slightly more spacious with a height of 2.70 m (8.8 ft). Both are painted black and are modified with glazing and doors, as well as wooden cladding.

The largest container hosts a bedroom with two beds, a bathroom, and a small living area with a sofa and a dining/office table. The smaller container is only used for storage space at the moment, though could potentially be outfitted with more bedrooms if required in the future.

Container House includes a living room with sofa and a small dining/office table. The decor is simple and consists of wood on the walls, floor, and roof
Constanza Domínguez Claro

Both containers are sheltered by a large sloping roof, which should help mitigate their poor thermal performance. The roof also creates a semi-outdoor living space between them that will be used for parties, or as exercise space or an office area when the weather's suitable.

Hammock-style chairs hang down from the ceiling and a basic kitchenette is also installed, as are some additional chairs made from repurposed fruit storage pallets. A children's play area and camp fire area are nearby.

We've reported on a few other shipping container-based projects lately, including a vacation home in the Hamptons and an Italian ICU to help with COVID-19 treatment.

Source: Constanza Domínguez Claro

View gallery - 9 images
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1 comment
Marco McClean
I like the recurring motif of pebbles on the table, pebble-pillows on the bed, logs in the yard. And the post-apocalypse gibbet.

Hard to fix the beds, though, wedged in like that.