Incubo House
Costa Rica
María José Trejos
DESIGNER: María José Trejos BUILDER: BUILD DATE: 2013
LOCATION: Escazú, San José, Costa Rica PHOTO CREDITS: Sergio Pucci RATING: 4 Stars
Incubo House is a three level home in Escazú, just outside San José in Costa Rica, built from eight 40ft high cube shipping containers. It was designed by architect María José Trejos for photographer Sergio Pucci, so the house doubles as a home, a working studio and a gallery for his work, and it was completed in 2013.
The containers sit in two parallel banks with a big double height void between them, and the whole thing is planned around a mature cedar tree that was already on the site, so you can see the tree from almost anywhere in the house. The ground floor holds the office, gallery, kitchen, dining and living spaces opening onto the deck. Upstairs are two bedrooms, each with its own bathroom, plus a studio, and the third level is an open rooftop terrace under fabric shade sails.
"The house dresses and undresses according to what you want to use it for." María José Trejos
Build Method
The eight containers were left largely intact and stacked two high, with the central module roofed over to create a 95 square metre multipurpose space that ties the two banks together. That central volume works like a lung for the house, pulling cross ventilation through the building, while the glazed west facade brings in plenty of natural light. The result is a home that doesn't need air conditioning and barely needs electric lighting during the day.
Materials were chosen to be renewable, reusable or recyclable. Floors are polished concrete and bamboo, the deck is certified timber mixed with recycled plastic, and the north east facade uses bamboo and movable panels. Timber from the cedar tree's trimmed limbs was used for the stairs and some of the furniture, and many of the original container doors were reused as doors throughout the house.
Rainwater is collected for the toilets and irrigation, hot water is solar heated and the house was set up for solar panels. Using containers also cut the construction time and cost by around 20% compared with a conventional build.
Interbode Thoughts
We love how this house is built around a single tree. It shows how much character you can get from plain, honest containers when the planning is smart, and the double height void between the two container banks is a brilliant way to turn a stack of boxes into a big, airy, light filled home. It's a much bigger build than most of ours, but the idea of two bedrooms upstairs over open living is very similar to our STACK2 model, and it proves how well containers suit a hot, humid climate when you design for cross ventilation. Great job María José and Sergio!
Incubo House Designs
Build or Buy
Guides
NEST Design & Build Plans
2 BED | 1 KIT | 1 BATH - Dimensions: W x D x H
NEST is a double unit 2X 20M (40ft) High Cube Shipping container design suitable for a small house/ holiday apartment use complete with regular kitchen and bathroom in both Grid and Off Grid configurations and with 1 Solar roof option.
Download detailed plans for NEST which include the following drawings in A3:
DRAWINGS SCHEDULES
PROJECT NOTES
FLOOR PLAN
REFLECTED CEILING
ROOF PLAN
ELEVATIONS
SECTIONS
INTERNAL ELEVATIONS
TYPICAL DETAILS
KITCHEN DRAWINGS
JOINERY DRAWINGS
BATHROOM DRAWINGS
ASSEMBLY DRAWINGS
WINDOW SCHEDULES
LIGHTING PLAN
POWER & SWITCHES PLAN
ELECTRICAL SCHEMATICS
FIXTURES & FINISHES SCHEDULE
Bespoke plans or amendments are also available from Interbode’s Design Studio. Contact Us: https://www.interbode.com
Notes:
Whilst detailed, this document is not for construction and is not intended to be compliant with all council or building regulations in your country or state. Prior to commencing build you should engage a suitable architect/drafts person and a qualified engineer.
All plans are copyright of Interbode Pty Ltd and Boxwood Construction Pty Ltd.