The day began with a brief introduction of the project lead by course leader, Poorang, at 9am in Cockroft M21 with all Architectural Technology Students. Our group was formed initially with students from the University of Brighton, Aidan and Kevin.
At 10am we were joined by students from Chichester College and Hazelwick School, individuals from each college (Sam from Chichester college and Haroon from Hazelwick School) were then allocated to form our group for the entirety of the week. After this we were introduced to Chris, the client for the project. He began by explaining the details of the project as well as the audience for the cabins. The self-sufficiency as well as the eco-friendliness of the structure provided the main basis for the project to be based upon. Once the external students had joined specific groups, we were given an introduction to Edublogs and Skype, with the explanation of relevance of these recourses to our project week.
After the break at 11.15am, we joined with the different colleges in drawing studio M21 at 11.30am, with a presentation on shipping containers given by John Smith, a graduate from the University of Brighton. The main use and relevance of shipping containers was described, including aspects of transportation and the application of these structures used within our projects.
At 12.15am, once the presentation had been given about the use of shipping containers for architectural purposes, the group began comparing ideas for the structure such as: prefabricated timber structures, open ended/ open sided shipping containers, the entrance and natural light openings, the internal layout of the container, as well as insulation ventilation and foldable furniture. We chose to use a shipping container because of the durability, strength, stability and easy transportable properties of these read-made structures. John Smith pointed out that due to the Corten Steel material that the containers are made with, the steel forms a natural rusting protection layer, which extends the life-span and durability of the structure as well as providing very minimal maintenance requirement. John explained that he had already done existing architectural container projects, and due to the weight of the existing container component, the structure can be placed on either padstones, paving slabs or in some circumstances the containers have been placed on railway sleepers. High cube containers can also be used to improve head height within the containers, otherwise with internal insulation and cavities, the head height within the structure can be restricting. Rainwater drainage may not be an issue, however to make the structure eco-friendly, the rainwater can be collected and stored and re-used as grey water for applications such as toilet flushing water. The ideas from John as well as inspiration from group members to improve and evolve the design.
At 2.00pm after lunch, a presentation on deployability, mobility, flexibility and cost was provided by University of Brighton lecturer, Noel Painting. Due to the larger amount of importation in comparison to exportation within the UK, a large amount of containers are left without a purpose. Therefore the containers are reused for architectural purposes and more environmentally friendly than building a structure from scratch. A possibility for openings and external panels to be pushed out would increase the internal space of the structure and therefore would be able to be pushed back in to allow for ease of transportation. The requirement of services within the eco-cabin is extensive due to the self-sufficient aspect to the project, as well as making the container sustainable off grid. Noel touched upon the requirement for specific insulation such as high performance insulation to prevent limitations of the space within the container. External insulation was also provided as an option however this is not very practical due to the requirement of transportation. Self-sufficient factors such as photovoltaics, wind power, compostable toilets and rainwater harvesting are all options to improve the sustainability. The internal layout of the structure can be influenced by existing caravan layouts such as the use of cupboard space under chairs. The furniture will need to be accessible for disabilities of all ranges and therefore the flow around the furniture must also be accessible for wheel chair users. Later, a small talk was given by a tutor from Chichester College, which introduced ideas such as including a separate container specifically for utilities such as storing water and distributing the services to all surround container spaces. This utility container could also be hidden out of the way, it would limit the requirement for multiple water tanks for each container. During the development of the design, quick sketches were used to explain ideas to other members of the group, which can be seen below.
The limitations of the space have been explored below with a sketch, Figure 1 showing the main dimensions of a 20ft container. The initial design began with a container which had an opening side to allow for a door and windows which will allow for natural light to enter the space. Due to the small space inside the container, a sufficient amount of natural light will need to be incorporated into the design to prevent a dark internal space. The external panel would have been supported with struts and only taken down when the container would be transported, this would prevent damage to the windows and doors during transit, a sketch of this can be shown in Figure 2.
Figure 1 Showing a sketch of a container with basic dimensions (Pomfret, 2015)
Figure 2, Showing a sketch of an initial idea, (Pomfret, 2015)
The design then progressed with the group, shown in Figure 3. The development sketches show the inclusion of a decking that is placed in-between the structural supports. The timber decking will be connected underneath the container when it is transported, and then this component can be pulled out from underneath to provide an external decking which increases the available space to use. The facade which can be propped up is also shown within this development to be split into three different sections which would allow for ease of movement and also limit the amount of weight that needs to be moved.
Figure 3, Showing grow development sketches, (Dunster, 2015)
At the end of the day we compiled all of our ideas together including the different development stages into a concept design of the container, this can be seen in Figure 4. This sketch shows the development we included such as the tilted section of the container roof which can allow for ventilation and lighting under the main roof section. The section that can be rotated to cover the main entrance facade when the container is transported, is manufactured of three different panels, and also kept in the upright position with the use of wooden struts. The design also includes: a ramp onto the decking to allow for disabled access, solar panels as well as heat solar panels for water heating, as well as showing a reflective surface to allow for maximum usage of the solar panels at all times of the day. The rainwater will also be collected for further use within the structure. Tomorrow will include research on the features included within the design as well as detailing sections and including costings for each aspect.
Figure 4. Showing sketch of compilation of development ideas (Dunster 2015).