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Project: Casa Conteiner RD
Architects: KS arquitetos
Bedrooms: 3
Location: Porto Alegre, Brazil
Area: 350 sqm (3767 qsft)
Year: 2018
Photographs: Marcelo Donadussi
Manufacturers: Deca, Docol, Eliane, Beaulieu
Structural project: Manuel Barreras
Collaboration: Helmut Radke, Fabiano Sturmer
Precast structures: ASPM
Metal structures: Radke Industrial Solutions
Finishes: Elevato
Furniture: Radke Industrial Solutions
Casa Conteiner RD 3 Bedroom Shipping Container Home is born from the intimacy of its owner with metallic structures: metallurgist by profession, dreamed of acting in the construction of his own house, together with his team, putting into practice industrial solutions in a context of conventional works. The idea of reusing and reframing shipping containers, which are ready-made and highly resistant structures, went straight to the will of the architectural firm to develop an unusual project.
Another major factor that guided the choice of materials was the optimization of the work, both in time and ease of assembly processes, differing greatly from traditional masonry and reinforced concrete. In principle, the use of shipping containers in constructions happens in very rational propositions, side by side or stacked, due to the ease of handling these modules.
Starting from the great structural potential that each container has, the formal concept of Casa Conteiner RD emerged: stacked but rotated structures, promoting great balances and unusual moments. The inspiration came during a survey when designers saw an iconic image of a large ship, full of containers, all piled up in disarray.
The 3 bedroom shipping container home is located in a hill of Porto Alegre, one of the highest points in the city. The landscape unfolds through the large windows towards a preservation area next to the lot, in the swinging and rotating volume of the master suite overlooks the Guaíba River and its unforgettable sunset. Various locations of containers in different directions provides different landscape views. In addition to the orientation and location aspects, the lot has more design issues than commonly found in urban lots.
Its shape has allowed all these rotating movements to happen so that the house's implantation does not come so close to the lot borders. The 3 bedroom shipping container home is comfortably set apart, maintaining family intimacy despite so many exterior openings that provide cross ventilation.
The land also has a steep slope, configuring a half-ground floor, where is the garage / workshop located. This volume, due to the contact with the ground, was made in precast concrete structure, keeping the standard and industrial logic of the construction. In the facades, it was decided to take advantage of the aesthetics of the shipping container itself, keeping the metallic structure apparent. Even the main entrance door of the residence is made with two original doors of shipping containers.
Internally, to ensure thermo-acoustic quality, the walls and ceilings were covered with plasterboard, while flooring, after leveling with OSB plates and smoothing layer, received vinyl flooring. Some inner walls reveal the raw structure, keeping and remembering that the unusual house is a large tower of overlapping shipping containers.
