Mansfield Container House
Mansfield
Robbie J Walker
DESIGNER: Robbie J Walker BUILDER: Robbie J Walker BUILD DATE: 2021
LOCATION: Mansfield, Victoria PHOTO CREDITS: Anthony Richardson RATING: 5 Stars
Mansfield Container House sits on a steep, rocky hillside in Mansfield, in the foothills of the Victorian Alps, looking across a gully towards Mount Buller. Melbourne designer Robbie Walker bought the block in 2016. It was too steep to farm but perfect for a hideaway, and with his partner Alice, family and friends he turned two 20ft shipping containers into a fully off-grid retreat of around 30 square metres.
It's a pair of identical containers set side by side. One is for living, with a fold-out kitchen table, a fireplace, a bathroom and a fold-out guest bed. The other is for sleeping, with a double bed, triple bunks, a second bathroom and a kitchen sink. Robbie was clear from day one about the look he wanted:
“I wanted them to still look like containers.”
Build Method
The containers keep their steel shells and corrugations and are finished in a heavy-duty dark paint that sits back into the hillside. Inside, everything is lined in plywood, with epoxy resin sealing the ply in the bathrooms so the wet areas stay waterproof.
The star of the show is the hydraulic wall. Robbie's uncle, a hydraulics expert, engineered a system that lets the whole side of the living container open up. The lower section drops down to become a deck, roughly doubling the usable floor space, and the upper section lifts to form an awning. Close it up and the house locks down tight when nobody is there.
Being completely off-grid, it runs on solar panels with batteries housed in a box at the rear, with a generator and gas as backup. A second roof over the containers shades them and funnels rainwater into water bladders, and perforated steel screens protect the glazing from the high-country sun. The house is now let out as a short-stay retreat.
Interbode Thoughts
We love this one. It shows a two-container home doesn't need to be big to feel generous. The hydraulic deck turns a 2.4m-wide box into a room with a view, and the double roof for shade and rainwater is a smart, very Australian move. It's honest about being a container, it's fully off-grid and it makes the most of a site nobody else wanted. If this is your kind of scale, our BOX model is built from two 20ft containers too. Great job Robbie and Alice!
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.