Simona is an interior design and décor writer for Homedit. Since 2011, she has been writing about interior design, DIY solutions, and the latest trends in home architecture.
After a period of experimenting with shipping containers and using them to create all sorts of cozy retreats, cabins and other small structures, architects are now starting to also take on large-scale projects involving reclaimed containers. An example is this residential building located in downtown Johannesburg, in South Africa. The project was developed by studio LOT-EK in 2017. The building is six-stories high, situated on a triangular site and was built out of 140 reclaimed shipping containers.
The units are organized into two section with triangular courtyards in between. One section has green modules and the other has blue ones. The containers have seen purposely selected to feature these two colors, thus requiring no re-painting and giving the container homes and the building a genuine, authentic look.
The building’s ground floor is a multi-purpose zone which includes residential units at the rear, retail spaces along the side of the road and a courtyard and shipping container pool in between. The six stories above that contain apartments ranging from 300 to 600 square feet, each with access to balconies and each featuring angular windows that form chevron patterns across the building’s facades. Slanted cut-outs on the ground floor complete the pattern.