[imagesource: Paul Vu]

Shops, homes, bathrooms, studios – if things keep going the way they are, everything will eventually be fabricated using shipping containers.

The trend was born out of the tiny house movement that used retired containers to make small, eco-friendly homes that left less of a carbon footprint on the planet.

Most people are unaware of the processes used to manufacture cement and concrete, which can be harmful to the environment. Container structures use these products minimally.

As an added bonus, you’re recycling a container that would otherwise have ended up on the scrap heap.

These, and the cost-effectiveness of a container structure, are just a few of the reasons that so many companies are turning to this sustainable solution for their building needs, not only for homes, but other, larger structures as well.

Per Designboom:

​Ecotech Design​, a Los Angeles-Based studio led by architect Walter Scott Perry, has completed an eco-friendly shipping container hotel in California. Forming part of a winery in Paso Robles, the Geneseo Inn offers a luxury hospitality experience in upcycled container dwellings perched above the landscape.

Set in the middle of 145 acres of grapevines and rolling hills, the bed-and-breakfast comprises eight units, each featuring recycled and locally-sourced materials and finishes.

Ecotech partnered with fabricator CRATE modular and the Cass Winery co-owners, Steve Cass and Ted Plemons, to develop the masterplan and unit design that integrates 20 factory-built, steel shipping containers with conventional building materials at the centre of the vineyard.

The grapevines are planted in rows 8 feet apart, and the shipping containers also have an 8 foot-wide module.

Thus, the idea of using a counterpoint matrix design concept evolved. By offsetting all the building components both 4 feet horizontally and vertically, and in three separated clusters with different orientations, the result is a constant play of light and shadow on the buildings during the day, further articulating the scale of the building mass to be in scale with the vineyard architecture.

The design was inspired by the vineyards, says Perry, who is the founder and principal of Ecotech Design.

‘The most compelling attribute of this project is the use of modular components, in combination with recycled materials, to enhance visual interest and create an impressive panoramic openness that connects interior spaces, walkways, and decks.”

‘These connect with the vineyard vistas beyond. The structures become truly integrated with their environment. Both container units and the vineyard itself have been recycled — a time-tested adaptive-reuse design strategy.’

Take a tour:

The average shipping container can travel thousands of miles all over the world, during its lifespan. As long as the owner of the shipping container maintains it well, then there is no reason that it cannot last for well over a decade.

As South African-owned shipping logistics company Berry & Donaldson will tell you, any shipping company worth its salt will keep its containers in top condition to ensure that the products that they’re moving arrive at their destination safely, wherever that destination may be.

They’ve been in the business of moving goods for more than 55 years, handling every step of the complicated process, so they know what they’re talking about.

In this sense, your container home or hotel isn’t made from trash, but pre-loved, well-travelled and hardworking materials.

There’s something nice about that.

[source:designboom]