The exterior of the home melds seamlessly with its natural surroundings. Photography by Ruy Teixeira.
When tasked with designing a sustainable home, which debuted at CASACOR São Paulo last summer, an unconventional structure caught the attention of Brazilian architect Marília Pellegrini—shipping containers. Undeterred by the material’s imperfections, Pellegrini managed to transform two 40-foot-long metal receptacles into a meditative, high-end guest home called Casa Container.
Though Pellegrini is far from the first architect to repurpose shipping containers—otherwise costly to melt down and discard—her design marks a departure from often-employed industrial aesthetics. Instead, the 645-square-foot guest pavilion is informed by Japanese minimalism, featuring clean lines and muted tones that enable the house to coexist with nature. The roof is designed to be compatible with solar panels and outfitted with rain water captivation systems which feed into the garden.
“The idea of re-using these containers in a high-end construction project was the main challenge here,” says Pellegrini. “There was one thing about the containers that piqued my interest—the finish. Every container home I saw had an industrial look and a very rough feel, which I didn’t like much.” To tackle this challenge, Pellegrini applied Cosentino’s water- and stain-resistant surface Dekton to the skeletal frame of the two adjoined containers, creating a smooth white façade that melds seamlessly with the home’s interiors. The floors, kitchen countertops, and bathroom surfaces also feature Dekton in varying shades of white as well as Cosentino’s Silestone, which reimagines patterns found in marble.
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