CONTAINER ARCHITECTURE - Incubo House by María José Trejos

Hey y'all,

Lately I have been pretty curious about the use of shipping cargo containers for architectural purposes.  It is also known as Cargochitecture as I learnt today. Cargochitecture gets a lot of encouraging coverage in the design world as a trendy green alternative to traditional building materials, and seems like a smart choice for people looking for eco-consciousness. 

 

Fabricating shipping containers to transform them into habitable homes includes cutting openings for windows, doors, insulating the walls and floor, electrical wiring, plumbing installations and finishing to suit the user, which could be in the form of painting or tiling.

I recently came across the Incubo House which is a great example of a container home. Below is the general project data;

Architects                                María José Trejos

Location                                  Escazu, Costa Rica

Project Area                           400.0 m2

Project Year                            2013

Photographs                           Sergio Pucci

                     

The original cedar tree on the site plays a very important for the layout of the house, so that there is a view of the tree from anywhere in the house. Also, the shape of the house responds to the impact of climate elements of the place: the central double height module acts as a lung with cross ventilation, and the west glass facade works for natural lighting.

Several considerations were taken into account so that the house had the least possible environmental impact, both in design and materials, as well as in systems for energy conservation. For example this was considered in the choice of materials, so that they are renewable, reusable or recyclable in addition to durable and low maintenance.

 

Wood from the cedar tree was used in the stairs, and some other details of furniture in the house. The deck consists of certified wood from renewable sources mixed with recycled plastic, concrete floors and bamboo, among others.

 Additionally, the house has rainwater collection systems for toilets and irrigation, it is planned for solar panels, container doors were reused for most doors of the project, the hot water is solar-heated, cross ventilation is enough so that the home does not require air conditioning, and natural lighting makes virtually no electric lights necessary during the day.

 

The use of containers in the construction gives a rich contrast to the design, in addition to reducing the environmental impact, which means the reuse of an existing element, generating less CO2 emissions than the cement production and transportation from trucking all those traditional materials to the site, not to mention a less invasiveland movement. It is estimated that the construction time is reduced by 20% and the total cost about 20%.

                        

What do you think folk, is this project a Hit or Miss? Y'all already know my answer...;)

Karish.