Whitaker StudioDesign devotees and eco-enthusiasts alike are salivating over James Whitaker’s proposed Joshua Tree Residence, a stark home made of recycled shipping containers in the middle of the California desert.
Whitaker’s design, which features a “starburst” of angled shipping containers, was originally designed as an affordable workplace in Germany. After the project fell through, film producer Chris Hanley commissioned Whitaker to build the design on his property near Joshua Tree National Park outside of LA.
While the construction isn’t slated to begin until early 2018, preliminary photorealistic images of the house are gorgeous. The Joshua Tree Residence is to be 2,100 square feet and will host a living room, kitchen, dining room and three bedrooms.
The house will be located in a slight rainwater gully and will be placed on concrete pillars to put it above occasional floods.
It was designed with the stark, gorgeous landscape in mind, and its shape echoes the desert plants around it.
And the shipping containers in its “exoskeleton” are placed very strategically. Depending on the use of the room, the shipping containers and their windows are placed either to give the residents a view of the landscape or a little more privacy.
Whitaker’s design is intended to be functional as well as beautiful, including a carport with a photosynthetic canopy to generate the building’s electricity.
Some of the smaller rooms, like the property’s three bedrooms, are made of single shipping containers. But the larger rooms are made of grouped containers. The south-facing living room is made of three containers, with multiple windows to feature a view across the desert.
Delightfully, the property also includes a sheltered hot tub, at the client’s request. Whitaker took the prevailing wind direction into account to make the pool comfortable.
And while the interior design currently looks a little harsh and imposing, not to worry – Whitaker plans to make it more “homey” as the project progresses.
It’s likely that he’ll keep the decoration minimal. After all, who needs expensive paintings when you’ve got those gorgeous views?
