Container Guest House in San Antonio, Texas by Poteet Architects

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Sumit Singhal
Sumit Singhal loves modern architecture. He comes from a family of builders who have built more than 20 projects in the last ten years near Delhi in India. He has recently started writing about the architectural projects that catch his imagination.

Container Guest House in San Antonio, Texas by Poteet Architects

April 22nd, 2011 by Sumit Singhal

This project originated in our client’s wish to experiment with shipping containers. She lives in a small warehouse on a former industrial site just south of downtown.

Front View (Images Courtesy CHRIS COOPER)

Architect: Poteet Architects
Name of Project: Container Guest House
Location: San Antonio, Texas
Area: 320 square feet
Project Team: Jim Poteet, Brett Freeman, Isadora Sintes, Shane Valentine
Contractor: Poteet Architects
Cost: Withheld by owner’s request.
Year Completed: 2010

Front View (Images Courtesy CHRIS COOPER)

The finished project serves as a guest house and is fitted with a shower/WC and a custom stainless sink. The large steel and glass lift/slide and end window wall open the interior to the surrounding landscape. The remainder of the interior is used as a garden shed.

Container Guest House (Images Courtesy CHRIS COOPER)

The emphasis was on sustainable strategies– first, the recycling of a “one-way” container for a new and permanent use. The planted roof is held off the container top, providing shade and air-flow to reduce heat gain. The interior is insulated with spray foam then lined with bamboo plywood, equally appropriate for the floor as the walls. The grey water from the sink and shower is captured for roof irrigation. The WC is a composting toilet. The rear of the container is screened by wire mesh panels which will eventually be covered in evergreen vines.

Side View (Images Courtesy CHRIS COOPER)

Other innovative material choices informed the design: the container “floats” on a foundation of recycled telephone poles. The deck is made up of HVAC equipment pads (made of recycled soda bottles) set in a steel frame. The exterior light fixtures are blades from a tractor disc plow—a common sight in south Texas.

Exterior View (Images Courtesy CHRIS COOPER)

Side View (Images Courtesy CHRIS COOPER)

Container Guest House (Images Courtesy CHRIS COOPER)

Side View (Images Courtesy CHRIS COOPER)

Interior View (Images Courtesy CHRIS COOPER)

Container Guest House (Images Courtesy CHRIS COOPER)

Images Courtesy CHRIS COOPER

Night View (Images Courtesy CHRIS COOPER)

Exterior View (Images Courtesy CHRIS COOPER)

Interior View (Images Courtesy CHRIS COOPER)

Bathroom (Images Courtesy CHRIS COOPER)

: Front View (Images Courtesy CHRIS COOPER)

: Front View (Images Courtesy CHRIS COOPER)

: Container Guest House (Images Courtesy CHRIS COOPER)

: Side View (Images Courtesy CHRIS COOPER)

: Exterior View (Images Courtesy CHRIS COOPER)

: Side View (Images Courtesy CHRIS COOPER)

: Container Guest House (Images Courtesy CHRIS COOPER)

: Side View (Images Courtesy CHRIS COOPER)

: Interior View (Images Courtesy CHRIS COOPER)

: Container Guest House (Images Courtesy CHRIS COOPER)

: Images Courtesy CHRIS COOPER

: Night View (Images Courtesy CHRIS COOPER)

: Exterior View (Images Courtesy CHRIS COOPER)

: Interior View (Images Courtesy CHRIS COOPER)

: Bathroom (Images Courtesy CHRIS COOPER)

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Tags: San Antonio, Texas

Categories: House, Residential

This entry was posted on Friday, April 22nd, 2011 at 5:43 am. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.