This was an article I read today over at The Daily Mail and I thought I would share it with you! As fans of small builds and glamping projects, at Discover Glamping we were interested to read about an innovative building project in San Antonio, Texas. The site of the project was once an industrial site and is now home to an artist who has been living in a small warehouse on the land. He tasked the award winning and highly reputed design company Poteet Architects with creating a sustainable home using shipping containers.

The firm installed an 8 ft. by 4 ft. bathroom, air conditioning, heating, windows and sliding doors to turn the shipping containers into the perfect relaxing space for the artists’ friends and visitors to crash for a night. Of course, the heating and cooling systems in place might need regular maintenance by an expert from somewhere like diamondblueair.com, but that’s a small price to pay for the upkeep of this amazing space.

Inside the Container Guest House, there is also an open plan and very spacious living room and the bathroom features a compost shower. The walls and floors of the guest house are all lined with bamboo plywood and the red walls are covered with sheet metal. The bathroom produces compost which is used in the garden outside the home.

As well as the above, the finished home also features a number of other environmentally friendly and innovative design features, including the upcycling of converted shipping containers. On the roof there is a garden that encourages air-flow and reduces the level of heat that the container retains and the garden is watered using grey water from the shower and sink.

Inside the shipping container, it is insulated with spray foam and then lined with the aforementioned bamboo plywood, which helps the container to stays naturally and comfortably warm. The idea behind the design and build always had an emphasis on sustainable strategies. Even the light fixtures on the exterior of the container have been recycled. They used to be the blades of a tractor disc plough, which natives of South Texas will be very familiar with.

The decking on the outside of the container has been made using recycled fizzy drink bottles in a steel frame to make HVAC equipment pads. At the rear of the building, the aim is that the wire mesh panels that cover that area will eventually be covered in overgrown evergreen vines. Functionality, sustainability, and the great aesthetics of Container Guest House undoubtedly were the reasons why it won the 2010 Design Award given by AIA San Antonio.

If you are interested in looking at more shipping container glamping ideas, then head over to our pinterest page! http://www.pinterest.com/dglamping/shipping-containers/