Shipping containers have joined the growing lists of things getting a second life these days. Noted Santa Monica, California architectural firm Gensler and Richard Hammond have donated a slew of old shipping containers to the Emerald Bay Boy Scout camp (on Catalina Island off southern California’s coast).
These newly styled cabins are made of recycled lumber, durable rubber flooring, LED lighting, solar photovoltaics and LED lighting. Their roofs have a stretched material made of silicone-coated fiberglass,
These eco-cabins were created through a partnership between Gensler and Arup, J. Miller Canvas, RMS Group, Primus Lighting Inc. and Nora Systems Inc. These cool cabins – complete with bunk beds – are sure to provide valuable Scout lessons in innovative environmental solutions. [Via MetropolisMag]
Architects, of course, have been playing with shipping containers for years, and Gensler’s Richard Hammond, who led the pro-bono Emerald Bay project, had witnessed his firm’s experiments with them for a Google office and for Shigeru Ban’s Ashes and Snow exhibition. “The Boy Scouts have been looking to modernize their image,” says Hammond. “With a bit of coaxing, they were willing to embrace the idea of container dwellings that acted more like open tents than completely enclosed cabins.”
Tags: gadget, eco+gadget, shipping+containers, recycled+shipping+containers