Designboom is a publication and blog that focuses on design, architecture, art, photography and graphics. Their main offices are located in Milan, Italy, but for the hot summer months, the crew of Designboom recently moved their offices into a series of cargo containers on the island of Sardinia. Their DIY adventure was profiled in a recent post on their website and the results are a beautiful representation of relaxed, sustainable living (and working) on a desert island in the Mediterranean.
The government of Sardinia has adopted some strict criteria for building permits on the island to curb overbuilding. However, one way to get around the long permit waiting period is by using temporary or modular structures as housing. Designboom purchased three used cargo containers and crane-lifted them onto natural stone pavement since the team did not want to use any concrete in the construction. The outdoor flooring is made from local stone and dry set with sand and mortar. The containers are placed at 90 degree angles to each other so that their external doors can be latched together to protect the dining area from the ocean winds.
The offices contain an outdoor kitchen and dining area with a reed matting cover. Two containers are a live/work area and the third separate shipping container serves as the bathroom, which has been fitted with a functioning toilet and shower. The exterior of the containers have been painted with a ceramic coating called SUPERTHERM® that insulates the structures, the interior walls were painted with water-based sky-blue color and a dark plywood floor was placed over the containers’ subfloors. The entire place has electricity and is plumbed.
Photos courtesy of Designboom
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