Designed by industrial designer and architecture school graduate Keith Dewey, the Zigloo Domestique is a single family home with two bedrooms, two baths plus living space. Utilizing eight shipping containers, this 2000 sf home is stacked on three levels. The main living spaces are on the ground floor, while the first floor contains the bedrooms and the basement contains the laundry and recreation rooms.
The residence was designed based on the ideas of recycle, reuse and reduce. Unlike other shipping container structures, the modifications to the containers were not prefabricated but rather modified on site. The exterior of the structure expresses its shipping container origin by painting the walls with an industrial enamel high gloss paint. Original container markings remain exposed. Shallow, barrel-vaulted roofs soften the appearance of the structure. Overall, the project uses one quarter of the typical amount of timber that is used in the average Canadian wood frame house.
The interiors disguise the shipping containers by insulating the walls and hiding the original walls behind drywall. Concrete floors are left exposed in the basement, while bamboo flooring is provided in some of the living spaces, such as the bedrooms. Other features include low voltage lighting, in floor hot water heating and energy efficient appliances.
Project successes include creating a strong aesthetic through the expression of the shipping containers and creating comfortable living spaces. Shortcomings include overall cost still out of reach of many people.
Sources:
http://zigloo.ca
Kotnik, Jure, Container Architecture, Links Books, 2009, pp. 142-147
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Xrz3nxUFOSU
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wCZHbZokicA
