A few people have asked us to explain our design concept a bit further. We wanted to do this in full depth at some point but just have been too busy really. Nevertheless, Mat scribbled down the basics for the layout and done a pretty rough sketch of the container layout. We'll be back with more and better sketches soon :o)
Here's Mat's description:
After reviewing many container homes etc, Candy and I have decided
to keep the designs for our 3 containers separate, which has many
benefits, e.g. they can be built off-site near a workshop and power
supply, they can be towed onto site with a set of wheels and a tractor,
they can be moved if the initial site is not quite right, they can get
around; plus walking from one container to the
other at night allows you to see the stars :)
However,
a container is only 2.2m wide, minus the internal wall, they become a
pretty narrow living space... and would end up like living in a hallway... so the big decision has been to widen them all by 1.15m. So the
basic plan is to have the containers set up as follows:
1/.
The kitchen / living container has 2x living spaces, one at each end,
and a kitchen in the middle... all open plan, the living spaces will be
4x3m & 4x3m and the kitchen will also be 4x3m minus bench space. The
whole extension will be steel framing and glass, so the end wall
extension will be 1x2.9m side hung windows, the front extension of the
container will have a 2x4m section of two bifold glass doors opening
either way (in front of the living systems) and 2x1m side hung glass
doors.
The roof of the extension will also be glass in skylight form
with hydraulic actuators so heat can be vented out quickly to avoid
ceiling heat traps. Basically in the summer the whole front can be
opened up out onto a raised deck, summer cooling will be, venting
through the skylights, venting through the doors, fans drawing cool air
off the surrounding caves and underground streams, the green roof will
eliminate the sun-on-steel-roof-cooking-effect. In winter the container
will be heated by a Rayburn wood burner oven, this will have a wetback
that will heat the 100l water cylinder, along with a solar water heater.
We plan to have underfloor heating pipes so the floor is warm
underfoot.
Additionally the container will be heated by a solar furnace
(drink can heat transfer device). The overall concept is to use the most
appropriate cooling system or heating system that suites each specific
day. Insulation wise is all glass will be double glazed low e toughened
glass with UV filters. As for the existing steel walls, the plan is to
use two layers aluminum foil with bubble wrap inside and on the inner
construct a wall from lime plaster approximately 3cm thick. For the
floor we plan to use native hardwood timber, I have been eyeing up some
ex school gymnasium flooring 30mm thick, but NZ timber flooring is
scarce and expensive... ranging from $80m2 to $300m2. Ideally we would
love to use a NZ native timber called Matai, best flooring in the world
they say, stable as... but its rare. The front metro against the glass
will act as a walkway between living spaces. The lights will be flat
panel LED's which will be flush mounted, warm light and be operated by
lutron touch sensitive switches.
2/.
The bedroom / bathroom container is a cookie cut version of the kitchen
/ living container to help with minimums and buying power and of cause
construction techniques, e.g. if I order 20 pieces of glass at 1x2.9m,
then my buying power or costs are going to be a lot better than
purchasing 20 pieces of glass all at different sizes. The bedrooms will
be inlace where the living spaces are on the other container, this means
the bedrooms are 4x3m which is not too bad for a small living system...
the extension also means you can walk around the end of your bed which
is not really possible in a non modified width container.
The bathroom
will be in place of the kitchen, bedroom built-in wardrobes will intrude
in on the bathroom space, housing the 200l hot water cylinder, under
floor heating circuits etc. The bathroom will have a tadelakt plaster
finish (turkish waterproof plaster). The bathroom will be separated from
the bedrooms by doors. the front meter floor of the bathroom will be
continuous wooden flooring from the bedrooms to create that flow through
when the doors are open. A growing bamboo wall will offer privacy in
the bathroom and will help exact moisture... The bathroom will have a
composting toilet that can be accessed under the raised container and
emptied when required, there will be a nice powerful shower with strong
pressure and a ceiling waterfall option. We have installed a 5500 liter
tank with a 10m head, all the pipe work off the tank is 25mm which means
there will be more pressure due to the larger pipe diameter. Also a
small 'chipper heater' small wood range with a cooker top and wetback
will be in the bathroom to help heat water and the underfloor system in
the winter. In the past we have been fortunate enough to have outside
baths, so we have chosen a great outdoor location over looking some
nikau palms and sunset for an old extra long and deep cast iron bath tub
which we will either heat via a wood fire or gas rings.
3/.
The 3rd container will be diced in half... it is cheaper to purchase 1x
40ft HC than 2x 20ft HC... plus 20ft HC are very very rare. One half of
the container will be turned into a design studio and be positioned in a
more remote spot with a great outlook. The plan is to extend the side
also, and have a small cubical bathroom in one corner, so if we ever
decide to turn it into a self container guest house then this is
possible. The other half will be used as a storage / utility / workshop
container, the design for this has not happened yet. But I have some
initial ideas of having a garage door that rolls up to expose a
traditional style sliding doors, the utility / storage room could be
partitioned off to the workshop and the existing steel doors could open
to extent the workshop to the outside....
What do you think? :o) c&m
