From Container to Tropical Architecture, Case Study: Container Cabin and C2 Shelter in Nakorn Nayok

Reusing and recycling of materials is key principle of sustainable architecture. Throughout the decades, a selection of materials has been explored and used to develop sustainable architecture to response in not only financial but also environmental aspect. The purpose of this article is to examine and analyze the tropical residential architecture that use abandoned shipping containers as the main structure together with architectural elements that define the built environment that response to holiday house in tropical climate. Two small house that use to be weekend getaway - Container Cabin and C2 Shelter - located in Pak Phli District, Nakhon Nayok Province, are used as a case study in this article. The purpose of both initiatives is to provide short-term vacation house that incorporate outdoor living. Instead of full renovating the containers at the factory which was not feasible in costs and an energy-intensive production process, this article will explore in how to work with shipping container since the planning process to finishing material selection that focus on local and mass industrial production material to. The study will focus from design to construction process that related to environment and sustainability.

Keywords: Container Architecture, Sustainability, Reuse and Recycle ​​​​​​​