- Shruti Saxena
To Think Out of the Box
A shipping container home - An Orange Box for Pardiwala Family at Zirad @ Maharashtra
The phrase "think out of the box" gets a whole new meaning with architect Hrishikesh More’s project of a shipping container house- The Orange Box, located in a small village called Zirad between Mandwa and Alibaug, Maharashtra.
Designed and built for patrons from Mumbai, the Pardiwala family, Mishal and Mikhail, requested a sustainable vacation home while participating in its construction with zest and passion for coming up with a green project that can eventually be their workplace when they shift to Alibaug one day.
Apart from being a farmhouse for the clients, it also needed to substantiate as an artist’s retreat or a workshop holding space for the eco-friendly clothing and product making company - TREEWEAR. The conceptualisation resulted in using something unconventional for a home, such as shipping containers. The house is an archetype for sustainable architecture meticulously using the site, the material and resources available.
PLANNING
The arrangement of three out of six- 40ft by 8ft shipping containers is staggered at the ground floor, comprises the bedroom, living and dining space, and the kitchen. Three similar-sized containers are placed perpendicularly to the bottom, creating the second bedroom and a bar/den area. The house has four bathrooms, and each bedroom connects with the outside through individual balconies.
The project did outset by joining two containers at longer sides and cutting out the sheet in the middle, giving the living room some double-height loftiness and connecting lower and upper levels visually within the house. Natural light flooding through the glass façade further illuminates the home.
As architect More states - "The time frame of construction is the key feature in such structures. Because of modularity, they can be built quickly, but need a lot of precision and a skilled workforce for execution. Compared to other recycled or eco-friendly materials, shipping containers are more durable and tough." (1)
ORIENTATION
The house’s orientation is planned around without disrupting the existing landscape that created a central open sky courtyard within the Orange box. Also, it reduces the heat gain through the steel structure.
With the house built over slightly raised land, dealing with the summer heat was another task. the orientation of the house did facilitate the use of the wind (a constant force there) in their favour, the clients placed the containers to facilitate the funnel effect that helped to ventilate the space better because of the pressure transmission.
The living room’s double-height glass window faces the North-West direction capturing the diffused light to penetrate within. Bedrooms face the South-West direction designed with narrow openings that cut down the heat gain into the rooms.
As the south and the west facade heat up more, to avoid heat transfusion through the face, utility services like toilet blocks and semi-covered terraces are designed as a buffer. Also, the existing trees like Babul and Neem are dense and tall enough to filter the heat within.
SUSTAINABILITY
Explaining the advantages, Mishal and architect More says, “Compared to other recycled or eco-friendly materials, shipping containers are more durable and tough. Every time a container is recycled, thousands of kilos worth of steel get repurposed. The best part is that no other building materials like bricks or cement are required when using a container, which reduces the overall carbon footprint.” (2)
The rainwater collection in an underground water tank with an open chain drain system through an inverted funnel-like roof is another conscious effort by the family to maintain the project’s ‘go green’ theme and WPC flooring (recycled wood plastic composite material). Their parents having some architectural background, did help them to work around retaining all trees at the site and using natural boulders as landscape elements around the house.
The containers are well insulated to tackle the external heat transmission creating a soothing environment to live within. The insulation layer uses a 4” glass wool sandwiched in the walls panelled and painted, appearing like masonary walls. Also, as Alibaug has almost three to four months of monsoon, the house has a soundproofing layer inserted between the panelled walls to block out the sound of rain beating against the metal exterior.
While the family’s goal was to see how far they could push themselves, they regard this Orange Box journey as one of their learning experience. Mishal quotes - “I think people will not be able to tell that it was made from containers; it will appear as a unique house. The aim was to showcase that one could achieve a really good finish while recycling a product. No plastering required; you just have to be mindful of where you want to put in things.” (3)
Fact wallet:
Project Name: The Orange Box
Year Built: 2019
Architect: HM-Architects, Thane
Location: Zirad, Alibaug , Maharshtra
Built-area:3000 - 5000 sq.ft.
Principal Architect: Architect Hrishikesh More
Budget: $5M-10M
Photographs credit and copyright with the source, client and architect.
Interior Photo Credits @ Pallavi More
To know more about the architect visit their website https://www.hm-architects.co.in/
References
Refer to Article by Thakrar T. ( May 29, 2020) at https://www.goodhomes.co.in/home-and-design-trends/architecture/the-orange-box-is-a-lesson-in-sustainability-6339-11.html
Refer to Article by Thakrar T. ( May 29, 2020) at https://www.goodhomes.co.in/home-and-design-trends/architecture/the-orange-box-is-a-lesson-in-sustainability-6339-11.html
Refer to quote at https://www.asianage.com/life/more-features/070819/shipping-sustainable-home.html
Further reads at