SPRING 2020
Kevin Mojica + Tej Desai | Design Studio 08 Capstone | Prof. Ryan Sharston + Dr. Mark Russel
Port Saint Joe, FL, USA
The growing North-Central Florida town has experienced intense transformations since the devastating impact of Hurricane Michael in late 2018. The act of gentrification has irrefutably hindered the progress of rebuilding the devastated communities. Lower-income neighborhoods distanced from the city's centers has resulted in forgotten housing unsuitable to the extreme weather conditions of the Florida coasts. Insufficient affordable housing, or no affordable housing, is the unfortunate result of gentrification. Although the problem of affordable housing lies in the political and economic sectors of the city/state governance, this research will focus on a trending sustainable housing practice, from an architectural and construction standpoint, to achieve affordable and adequate housing for gentrified regions. this project aims to use the idea of shipping container architecture, and study its life-cycle assessment and estimated energy consumption.
There is an abundance of these containers around the world, around 11 million, discarded after 1-3 uses of international trade. It is more resourceful and energy efficient to repurpose the containers for other functions, aside from further international trading, than it is to recycle the steel of a 40' long container using 8,000 kWh- which can enough energy to power a small home for a year. The difference in energy consumption for a refurbishment project and melting a shipping container is 95%, or 8100 kwh. The unsustainable practice of discarding containers after a short use is then mitigated with sustainable efforts to repurpose their shell as living units. This repurpose, however, must incorporate sustainable building methods and materials in order for the project to be considered a sustainable means of housing, or else it becomes as expensive and wasteful as most traditional methods of construction.
The containers, as a shell are highly durable, strong, and easily transportable. More specifically, they are resilient to all kinds of weather because their main material is 14-gauge COR-TEN steel, which rusts to a certain stage and uses the oxidization as a protective layer, making it resistant to sea-travel. Their design is meant to endure long intercoastal voyages which demands watertight sealing, joinery, and hydroponic paints/finishes in any container's construction. Furthermore, their rigid steel assemblage is incredibly strong and can withstand up to 20 tons per container1, which can be common when these units are stacked in large quantities with full cargo loads. Up to eight containers can be stacked atop one another, totaling the load of the bottommost container to 140 tons. Lastly, their common dimensions of 8'x8.5'x20' and 8'x9.5'x40' make the units easily transportable and maneuverable because they are designed to fit on the back of semi-truck beds. On-site construction is expedited because these unit's interior can be completed off-site and then placed on-site using a crane, oppose to excessive on-site construction such as wood-stick framing and scaffolding.
The containers, as a shell are highly durable, strong, and easily transportable. More specifically, they are resilient to all kinds of weather because their main material is 14-gauge COR-TEN steel, which rusts to a certain stage and uses the oxidization as a protective layer, making it resistant to sea-travel. Their design is meant to endure long intercoastal voyages which demands watertight sealing, joinery, and hydroponic paints/finishes in any container's construction. Furthermore, their rigid steel assemblage is incredibly strong and can withstand up to 20 tons per container1, which can be common when these units are stacked in large quantities with full cargo loads. Up to eight containers can be stacked atop one another, totaling the load of the bottommost container to 140 tons. Lastly, their common dimensions of 8'x8.5'x20' and 8'x9.5'x40' make the units easily transportable and maneuverable because they are designed to fit on the back of semi-truck beds. On-site construction is expedited because these unit's interior can be completed off-site and then placed on-site using a crane, oppose to excessive on-site construction such as wood-stick framing and scaffolding.