Structural Steel Housing Catalog Showcases Prefab Home Designs
1. NEW DETROIT HOUSING
a compilation of STRUCTURAL STEEL housing typologies
2015/2016
W ONDER I NCORPORATED
2. NEW DETROIT HOUSING | STRUCTURAL STEEL SOLUTION CATALOG
DETROIT HAS
THE ABILITY TO
CREATE A NEW
POSITIVE URBAN
OPPORTUNITY
FOR THE 21ST
CENTURY...
2015 | 2016 WONDERINC.COM
COURTYARD HOUSE / LIBERTY NEW YORK USA
RACER HOUSE / DETROIT MICHIGAN USA
LITTLE GIANTS / VARIOUS LOCATIONS USA & CANADA
STEELTOWN SPLIT HOUSE / HAMILTON ONTARIO CANADA
INDOOR OUTDOOR HOUSE / CALEDON ONTARIO CANADA
UPSIDE DOWN MANOR / HOLLYWOOD CALIFORNIA USA
LEGO TINY HOUSE / JOSHUA TREE CALIFORNIA USA
OFF GRID RETREAT / BRIGHTON ONTARIO CANADA
02
01
03
04
05
06
07
08
3. NEW DETROIT HOUSING | STRUCTURAL STEEL SOLUTION CATALOG 2015 | 2016 WONDERINC.COM
“The last great technological advancement
that reshaped cities was the automobile
(some might argue it was the elevator).
In both cases, these technologies reshaped
the physical aspects of living in cities – how
far a person could travel or how high a
building could climb. But the fundamentals
of how cities worked remained the same.
What’s different about the information
age that has been ushered in by personal
computers, mobile phones & the Internet
is its ability to reshape the social
organization of cities & empower everyday
citizens with the knowledge & tools to
actively participate in the policy, planning
& management of cities.”
CHRISTIAN MADERA, from his article ‘The Future of Cities in the Internet Era’
The Internet Revolution is allowing us to work from
distant locations as well as efficiently producing off-
site, prefab & modular dwelling units, employing
remote manufacturing & integrated engineering with
local building craft.
What follows here is a small compendium of structural
steel buildings for residential occupancy using recycled &
up-cycled materials, from an endless source of standard
building blocks, originally designed for storage but now
modified for optimal comfort & intuitive, highly efficient
inhabitation.
Designed, engineered, built & sited in Canada & the
United States, these buildings are adapted to various
climactic zones, have a minimal carbon footprint that
exemplify the adage by the great modernist architect
Le Corbusier who said “a house is a machine for living
in”. The 21st century living begins with a renewed sense
of progress.
The various prefabricated hybrid container dwellings
represented in this catalog are constructed from 20’ &
40’ structural steel modules & combine in various
configurations to form tiny houses, cottages, single
family residences, multi-family homes, & experimental
urban living laboratories.
JASON HALTER, from the film ‘Manifesto of Our Current Dilemma’
2015 | 2016 WONDERINC.COM
4. NEW DETROIT HOUSING | STRUCTURAL STEEL SOLUTION CATALOG 2015 | 2016 WONDERINC.COM
COURTYARD HOUSE /
LIBERTY NEW YORK
CLIENT: JOHN & LISA LIVINGSTONE
PROGRAM: SINGLE FLOOR THREE BEDROOM WITH LARGE FORE COURT
SITE: 50 ACRE ESTATE, SLOPED FOREST, ONE HOUR FROM MANHATTAN
SIZE: 2,240 SF CONTAINERS, 600 SF TIMBER, 1,200 SF OUTDOOR COURT
COURT & SPARK
The site for this bungalow-style home, featuring a large
south facing courtyard, complete with built-in seating,
3 season veranda, central exterior fire hearth held within
a uniform gabion retaining wall structure.
As such, the layout for this flat roofed structure with
extending gables, looks inviting & expansive. The
approach to the front door requires the guest to ascend
stone stairs to the deck level, past the outdoor fire hearth,
informally entering the domestic space of the courtyard
before arriving at the front door. The court is the focal
point & front & back decks contain elements of the
program that highlight the outdoor living.
Built partly in ground with exterior walkout access, this
building is secured to the site with fly ash concrete to
containing below grade offices, storage & mechanical zones.
The flanking wings of the courtyard house are standing on
helical piles, minimizing the impact on the site & allow the
container units to appear as if hovering over the ground.
The house is protected on the north side by hardwood
forests, & the south facing courtyard front is firmly
grounded with a retaining wall made with stone & cage
gabions, the granite rocks collected from nearby fields.
The building is made from 7 HC ISO shipping containers
that are configured to enclose the courtyard with three
bedrooms, living, dining & indoor outdoor features that
include wet & dry sauna, hot tub, porch and work space.
Heated with high efficiency on demand hydronic loops &
wood stove, this building also possesses back up electrical
power & is solar panel & Tesla Powerwall-ready. Climate
zone 2 in New York state requires suitable building
envelope; roof, wall & floor (where exposed to the exterior)
possess high thermal rating.
01
2015 | 2016 WONDERINC.COM
5. NEW DETROIT HOUSING | STRUCTURAL STEEL SOLUTION CATALOG 2015 | 2016 WONDERINC.COM
BASEMENT PLAN GROUND FLOOR PLAN
2015 | 2016 WONDERINC.COM
6. NEW DETROIT HOUSING | STRUCTURAL STEEL SOLUTION CATALOG 2015 | 2016 WONDERINC.COM
RACER HOUSE /
DETROIT, MICHIGAN
CLIENT: RYAN CRAMER
PROGRAM: 1,600 SF CONTAINERS, 2 BEDROOM, MOTOR BIKE LOUNGE
SITE: HIGHLAND PARK, GENTRIFIED NEIGHBORHOOD, POST URBAN PARK
SIZE: 6 X 40’ HC MODIFIED ISO CONTAINERS, 1,600 SF TOTAL
HIGHLAND PARK or CORKTOWN?
The potential for this building lies in two opportunity sites
that will introduce this residential 6 x 40’ HC container
building to a lot that once held a residence, long since torn
down. The urban decay that Detroit has witnessed in the
late last century is now becoming ripe for redevelopment, in
our case with new, resilient, robust & sustainable structures,
built on tangential conceptual trajectories; one that recalls
the assembly line of early Ford principles, the other with an
eye to the urgent need for future proofing & high efficiency
performance buildings.
Sitting either on helical piles or fly ash concrete trench
footings, these steel expressed structural envelopes sit
perched over the landscape, engaged & able to fit on sites
of variable topographic conditions. Depending on cardinal
orientation, the buildings typically have large south facing
expanses & more guarded, yet domestically vernacular in
their presentation with porches, overhangs, walk-around
steel verandas & bright colors achieved with durable high
quality aerospace grade polyurethane paint over a zinc rich
primed corten (high iron) weathering steel envelope. Dark
framed & finished windows evoke cool solidity.
The roof is built with wood or steel, intending to create
suitable overhangs for weather protection & are also
substantially insulated to match the climactic conditions
at the south Lake Huron & east Lake Erie micro climate.
The roof has both decking for leisure & planter gardens,
but are also solar panel & Tesla Powerwall-ready.
The program for this house is bound in the industrial
chic world of its owner. The house will boast a great hall
of double height space with wood stove hearth, as well
as a workshop for the owner’s motorcycle collection.
Raw, resilient finishes & vintage lighting house a well
worn luxury of up-cycled fixtures, fittings, furnishings,
& classic café racer-style steel, wood & leather. Wood
smoke & plywood walls blend with the stainless of
reclaimed kitchens.
02
2015 | 2016 WONDERINC.COM
7. NEW DETROIT HOUSING | STRUCTURAL STEEL SOLUTION CATALOG 2015 | 2016 WONDERINC.COM
FIRST FLOOR PLAN SECOND FLOOR PLAN
2015 | 2016 WONDERINC.COM
8. NEW DETROIT HOUSING | STRUCTURAL STEEL SOLUTION CATALOG 2015 | 2016 WONDERINC.COM
FRONT HOUSE VIEW SHOWING FLY ASH CONCRETE ENTRANCE STEPS,
COVERED STEEL OVERHANG & WOOD FRAMED ROOF OVERHANG.
GRATED STEEL WRAP -AROUND VERANDA HIGHLIGHTS THE SLEEK
NATURE OF THE HOUSE & IT’S ROBUST MATERIALITY & RESILIENT
UPCYCLED STEEL STRUCTURE.
BACK (SOUTH) HOUSE VIEW REVEALS THE LARGE GLAZED & DOUBLE
HEIGHT SPACE OF THE GREAT ROOM BEYOND. A BALCONY FROM A STUDY
PROVIDES A CAGED ACCESS TO THE ROOF DECK & PLANTER & PV GARDEN,
CREATING AN OASIS ABOVE THE DURABLE STEEL BUILDING ENVELOPE. THE
WRAP AROUND PORCH HOVERS LESS THAN 2 FEET FROM THE GROUND,
EMPHASIZING THE BUILDING’S LIGHT FOOT PRINT ON THE SITE.
2015 | 2016 WONDERINC.COM
9. NEW DETROIT HOUSING | STRUCTURAL STEEL SOLUTION CATALOG 2015 | 2016 WONDERINC.COM
LAND IS REALLY THE BEST ART
– ANDY WARHOL
This demonstration of a structural steel housing system is the second
scheme for an historic Detroit infill site, undertaken in response to the need
for additional housing typology studies. It arranges four forty-foot high cube
shipping containers into a two storey criss-cross stack to create a 3 bedroom
single family dwelling organized around an open space below for hybrid
multipurpose creative use.
Each of the units is organized around a double-height space enclosed between
the stacks, serving as the living room for the unit &, in the upper reaches, as
the circulation area, transected by the stairs & catwalks that provide access to
the containers. The Racer House has the dedicated program-specific functions
of the home, such as kitchen, bath, & bedroom.
Also per the structual steel spanning space between container units, the living
space is left largely undefined spatially, awaiting empowering definition by
the activities of its inhabitants. The living spaces & containers are oriented
in opposite directions, with glazing on two elevations only, so that the building
enjoys two different exposures. Additional steel structure is employed to enable
the span over the living, parking space at the base; the containers are rigidly
joined at the corner fittings with proprietary connectors to create a composite
beam, capable of spanning even greater distances than required here.
2015 | 2016 WONDERINC.COM
10. NEW DETROIT HOUSING | STRUCTURAL STEEL SOLUTION CATALOG 2015 | 2016 WONDERINC.COM
LITTLE GIANTS /
VARIOUS LOCATIONS
CLIENT: GIANT CONTAINERS; TORONTO, ONTARIO
PROGRAM: SERIES OF ONE TWO & THREE BEDROOM MICRO COTTAGES
SITE: CLIMATE ZONES 1 THRU 4, PRIMARILY NORTH AMERICA
SIZE: RANGE FROM 320, 480, 640 & 960 SQUARE FEET. 20’ & 40’ ISO HC
GONE FISHING
The challenges that prefab manufactured fabricators
sometimes have may reside in the need to possess &
sell a stable of stock items, building types that are
serial minded marketing options, with a standard set
of finishes and details that are easily replicable, & widely
distributed.
Optional roof, deck, foundation & amenity room are
additional program elements that can be attached or
offered as up-sell features, similar to the sport package
that automobile companies offer as upgrades for most
model types.
Building a single unit type for multiple climate zones
require, however, the need to apply various envelope
packages. Using various suggested foundation solutions
best suited to the variable soils and ground condition &
offering concrete or steel pilotis style column enhancement
as well as water cisterns & shed enclosures, the four
building types expressed here combine practicality with
enhanced site performance. Variable roof coverings
utilizing steel structure & sheathing, as well as grated steel
decking, & galvanized exterior guardrail & stair details
provide a light & quickly deployable series of buildings.
Affectionately named after freshwater & oceangoing fish &
whale names, the ‘Little Giants’ espouse a leisurely quality
& comprise a set of off-grid ready building types, all built
for micro living, typically intended for second home or
cottage life. Each unit propounds an utilitarian & lunch
bucket aesthetic of no nonsense, durable basic & survival
living, mixed with fashionable engineering.
Resilient micro architectural projects, these Little Giants,
as per the famous Sardine company ‘Club Des Millionaires’
claim on their classic packaging, “Fish, she is very small”!
Small, efficient & packed with goodness...
320 ‘SHRIMP’ VIEW
03
480 ‘PIKE’ VIEW
2015 | 2016 WONDERINC.COM
11. NEW DETROIT HOUSING | STRUCTURAL STEEL SOLUTION CATALOG 2015 | 2016 WONDERINC.COM
640 ‘TUNA’ VIEW
960 ‘BELUGA’ VIEW
960 ‘BELUGA’ FLOOR PLAN
2015 | 2016 WONDERINC.COM
12. NEW DETROIT HOUSING | STRUCTURAL STEEL SOLUTION CATALOG 2015 | 2016 WONDERINC.COM
480 ‘PIKE’ FLOOR PLAN
HERE AND THERE
We propose a new urban opportunity that suggests us utilizing two of these
building types, the Pike & the Beluga, for example, which are found on a single
residential property forming an efficient & expediaent multi-generational
assemblage with a common garden & built in parking as well as storage for quick
laneway access & getaway. Total square feet is 1,440 in two building blocks.
2015 | 2016 WONDERINC.COM
13. NEW DETROIT HOUSING | STRUCTURAL STEEL SOLUTION CATALOG 2015 | 2016 WONDERINC.COM
STEELTOWN SPLIT
HOUSE /
HAMILTON ONTARIO
CLIENT: BEVERLY & GEOFFREY YOUNG
PROGRAM: 2,560 SF HC CONTAINERS / 1,280 SF CONCRETE WALK OUT
SITE: URBAN INFILL / HAMILTON, ONTARIO
SIZE: 4 BEDROOM / 3,840 OVERALL SF / GREEN ROOF DECK 1,000 SF
HISTORY & DOMESTICITY
Located on the escarpment area of this traditional steel
producing city of Hamilton, Ontario, Split House is being
built on a significantly sloped site, an double lot amalgamated
into one, an urban infill site that has been vacant for
decades. The south end of the site falls naturally from the
north or front of the house. The front of the house has
entrance doors at grade & as well as below grade entry. The
back of the house or the south facade has an entrance at
grade, as the concrete foundation mediates between 9 feet of
overall site grade difference from front to back.
Both kitchen and main living areas occur within the concrete
basement / walk out condition, with a basic but robust
plywood clad stair that connects the ground level to the
container units above. A five bedroom & one study container
assembly is distributed graciously with all rooms possessing
balconies, passive air & cross breeze conditions.
Due to input from local planning & historic groups, we were
requested to break up the overall mass of a four wide container
building of 32’. This was achieved by ‘splitting’ the building
into two distinct objects. The result makes the building appear
as two town house units sharing a party wall, which was the
original intention of the client to reseve & sell the Split House
as two distinct townhouses after a few years of living on site &
while completing all off-grid building features.
Further lending a sense of belonging to the site, the 8 x 40’
HC containers are painted an historic ‘brick’ red, meant to
blend the building with its tired & unsuspecting dwellings
on either side of the newly built structural steel house. A
wood roof with deep overhangs supports a green roof &
provides greater amounts of spray foam insulation to fulfill
local requirements. An efficient, high performance building
envelope settles in to its new domestic condition, with historic
nods & a steely expression.
04
2015 | 2016 WONDERINC.COM
14. NEW DETROIT HOUSING | STRUCTURAL STEEL SOLUTION CATALOG 2015 | 2016 WONDERINC.COM
FIRST FLOOR PLAN SECOND FLOOR PLANSECOND FLOOR PLAN
2015 | 2016 WONDERINC.COM
15. NEW DETROIT HOUSING | STRUCTURAL STEEL SOLUTION CATALOG 2015 | 2016 WONDERINC.COM
BASEMENT FLOOR PLAN
2015 | 2016 WONDERINC.COM
16. NEW DETROIT HOUSING | STRUCTURAL STEEL SOLUTION CATALOG 2015 | 2016 WONDERINC.COM
INDOOR OUTDOOR
HOUSE /
CALEDON ONTARIO
CLIENT: WITHHELD
PROGRAM: 6 x 40’ HC CONTAINERS FOR 2 BEDROOM & WORKSHOP HOUSE
SITE: HIGH RIDGE IN CALEDON HILLS FACING 100 ACRE MIXED WOOD FOREST
SIZE: 2,560 SF CONTAINERS WITH 800 SF INDOOR OUTDOOR LIVING TERRACE
AFFORDABLE PRICE CREEP
Indoor / Outdoor house is designed to frame the landscape
around an open court condition, forming an ‘L’ shaped
building that orients itself to a south-west exposure,
ensuring long afternoon shadows across a large stone
terrace that has a large outdoor hearth & built-in amenities.
The building is clad with an exterior zinc metal standing seam
envelope & uses additional exterior insulation panels to enhance
the required thermal quality & overall building envelope
performance. Located in a climactic zone of more than usual
snow accumulation, the roof is comprised of two sheds or
single-sloping conditions, one of which extends to cover a car
port /parking area, the other shedding water away from the
stone courtyard to a collection cistern located near the well for a
combined water storage facility. A flat portion of insulated roof
deck off the master bedroom holds a large prerequisite hot tub.
Below grade is a partial fly ash concrete basement with
mechanical room, workshop & winter storage under the
main flank of the house, there are helical piles that extend
to the south & west extents of the house, with minimal site
disturbance. Exposed under building floors are insulated with
additional spray foam & building cladding to form a continuous
envelope for thermal performance as well as to deter animal
infiltration & occupation.
Indoor / Outdoor house is sheathed entirely on the exterior &
reveals the painted corten corrugated container panels only on
the inside of the house. The sloped roof suggests a mid century
aesthetic, yet born of functional necessity. The increased cost
to clad the exterior walls of the building in premium materials
& the exposure of triple paned glazing on two full sides of the
courtyard, along with the selection of high quality finishes grew
the budget substantially, which resulted in delays to the project,
and required a necessary redesign. Now a single storey bungalow
with the same courtyard plan, we anticipate budget parity.
05
2015 | 2016 WONDERINC.COM
17. NEW DETROIT HOUSING | STRUCTURAL STEEL SOLUTION CATALOG 2015 | 2016 WONDERINC.COM
FIRST FLOOR PLAN SECOND FLOOR PLAN
2015 | 2016 WONDERINC.COM
18. NEW DETROIT HOUSING | STRUCTURAL STEEL SOLUTION CATALOG 2015 | 2016 WONDERINC.COM
UPSIDE DOWN MANOR /
HOLLYWOOD
CALIFORNIA
CLIENT: WITHHELD
PROGRAM: GUEST SUITE & BEDROOMS BELOW MAIN LIVING UNITS
SITE: CREST OF HOLLYWOOD HILLS NEAR BELAIR
SIZE: 2,240 SF HC CONTAINERS, 1,280 SF CONCRETE SUITE,
2,000 SF TERRACES & GREEN ROOF, 800 SF COVERED PARKING
BACKWARDS, O’ BACKWARDS, WITH DIRECTION
Classic Hollywood story. The client is a director. He loves what
you do & he needs one of those for his own. But it’s backwards
& upside-down. He doesn’t even have a site for the project but
he sees a site on top of Mulholland Drive, or Wonderview, or
top of Bel Air, beside Rudy Vallee’s (now Arsenio Hall’s)
hilltop perch.
So let’s design something that has an in-law’s suite, covered
parking but not interior. Lot’s of different terrace space. Green
roof, off-grid ready, with some secret storage. Clad it in corten
steel panels. But it’s already made of a corten structural
envelope! Great – it can be a double skin. Exterior insulation
sheathed with additional corten panels. Corten interior walls,
corten exterior walls, a sandwich, a Farraday cage. Put a layer
of lead lining for extra protection. Sure, it can be done...
The living spaces & dining room with grand piano is on the top.
To look over LA. And beyond. A double entrance access, two
balanced front doors. The ground floor stair brings you to the
second floor, full of circulation & bedrooms. Pass by the
master bedroom & double sized guest rooms, to climb one of
two covered stairs to the entertainment suite above. Additional
water storage & safe room, we assume the front elevation faces
south. We assume that the budget is grand. It is.
We enjoy using the Tesla Powerwall concept of battery storage,
so it is added to our wish list. Along with on-demand hydronics,
and a geothermal system, the manor home needs to have
passive ventilation protocols. The house is to be smart wired,
but also capable of grid independence & can be run on backup,
if necessary as dumb tech, or no tech, if the web actually
stopped functioning. As if that could ever happen... It could.
On an imaginary but real site, just imagine it... The premise
was to design a manor based on desire & speculation, using
seven 40’ HC containers, secured with a steel structure & fly ash
concrete base, connected, not connected. Upside Down.
06
2015 | 2016 WONDERINC.COM
19. NEW DETROIT HOUSING | STRUCTURAL STEEL SOLUTION CATALOG 2015 | 2016 WONDERINC.COM
FIRST FLOOR PLAN
SECOND FLOOR PLAN
THIRD FLOOR PLAN
2015 | 2016 WONDERINC.COM
20. NEW DETROIT HOUSING | STRUCTURAL STEEL SOLUTION CATALOG 2015 | 2016 WONDERINC.COM
LEGO TINYHOUSE /
JOSHUA TREE
CALIFORNIA
CLIENT: NEW OLD STOCK INC/ MULTIPLE CLIENTS
PROGRAM: OFF-GRID TINY HOUSE THROUGH COURT VACATION DWELLING
SITE: DESERT NEAR SOME OASIS OR WATER TANKS, POOL INCLUDED
SIZE: 320 SF HC CONTAINERS, 240 SF OUTDOOR CEDAR DECK
OFF GRID / CAVE
Lego House developed in conjunction with a client turned
partner, to build a tiny house that could be marketed as a
single or as a double unit, kept at a distance of 12 feet, to
make a ‘through court’, a canopied, off-grid paneled roof,
which holds a bris soleil to let 50% light in but in a directed
manner.
Intended to dwell in Los Angeles, this tiny house is destined
to sit on two 3-axeled trailers, for transport & placement ease as
well as to slide underneath local planning rules & regulations.
It could also be placed, with water storage & back-up power to
nest simply in the painterly light of the Joshua Tree desert.
Daytime temperatures are hot, night time, cool. Well ventilated,
insulated, simple, with cedar clad interiors, an optional
indoor/outdoor shower & sufficient battery storage to last a
few days. A backup 7kw propane generator will keep the unit
running in the event of energy overuse or extra requirement.
The outdoor space between the 2 x 20’ HC containers is
the living / working center of the dwelling unit. Each container
is distinct, programatically. The ‘Off-Grid’ unit has energy
storage, small millwork bank, shower, fridge, toilet, sink, & dry
good storage. The ‘Cave’ unit is spare. High quality lift & slide
hardware operate the massive glass wall, with custom milled
cedar clad walls & ceiling. Black rubber Pirelli floor tiles recall
the trailer tires that move this tiny house as needed from place
to place.
Sprayed with a high quality aerospace-grade polyurethane paint
over zinc rich primer yields a finish that is durable, weather
resistant, & color fast. Just like all commercial aircraft that are
finished with the same surface paint treatment, the units are
ready for rapid deployment. The prototype units are built in
Canada, & shipped to LA, or anywhere. The first of these tiny
houses will be temporarily installed on a production lot in
central LA for the foreseeable future.
07
2015 | 2016 WONDERINC.COM
21. NEW DETROIT HOUSING | STRUCTURAL STEEL SOLUTION CATALOG 2015 | 2016 WONDERINC.COM
PAINTED, MODIFIED UNITS ABOVE. SOLIDWORKS MODEL SHOWING ROOF & DECK STRUCTURE BELOW
INSTALLATION ASSEMBLY< LOS ANGELES ABOVE; SHOP DRAWINGS FOR FABRICATION BELOW
2015 | 2016 WONDERINC.COM
22. NEW DETROIT HOUSING | STRUCTURAL STEEL SOLUTION CATALOG 2015 | 2016 WONDERINC.COM
OFF GRID RETREAT /
BRIGHTON ONTARIO
CLIENT: ROBERT SIRLUCK
PROGRAM: OFF GRID BUNK HOUSE & PRIVATE SURVIVALIST RESIDENCE
SITE: ROLLING TRENT HILLS BETWEEN COLD CREEK & TRENT SEVERIN WATERWAY
SIZE: 320 SF 2 X 20’ HC CONTAINERS, 320 SF CONCRETE BUNKER,
1,280 SF 40’ HC CONTAINERS, 640 SF CONCRETE STORAGE
BRITE LITES MICROFIT
A project of expansion & contraction, this experimental site
was severed from a larger old wooded 23 acre parcel to form
a small 3 acre grid fed & off-grid test location for an upstart
solar venture. The first construction on the site was a 10kw, 5 x
250watt panel tracking solar system, intended for a 20 year grid
fed contract to deliver electricity to the local power authority
for .80$/kilowatt hour. It was one of the first of the Microfit
contracts offered in Ontario as a result of the Green energy Act
of 2008, a government program push to provide the Province
of Ontario with a percentage of renewable energy solutions to
replace old fossil fuel & coal technology & augment the existing
hydro electric, natural gas & nuclear facilities that make up the
bulk of electricity in the region. Like a big sunflower, the 10KW
tracker follows the path of the sun, tilts to absorb the sun’s
energy, flattens to a table top position in high winds, & sets
back everyday to face the next morning’s light.
A small 320 square foot, 2 x 20’ HC container assembly was
placed on a walkout concrete bunker, at grade on the backside,
at the edge of the oak & aspen forested embankment, which
was followed by decking on helical piles, and faced with brown
hued, monolithic split boulders from a local quarry. A second
1,280 square foot 4 x 40’ HC container structure was delivered
a year later on top of a poured concrete garage and storage
facility & the units were services and wired for a 3KW off-grid
system with a backup propane generator to provide continuity
as needed. Both units are also heated with wood stoves & are
passively ventilated. No air conditioning was necessary. Green
roof panels augment the insulated walls & ceilings & provide
additional sun shading during the summer months. The
buildings are triple glazed, with on demand hydronic heat to
temper the abundant well water on site.
Though compact, this 3 bedroom retreat has become a local
attraction on Old Wooler Road & proves that economy of scale
is both achievable & desirable. Off-grid living that frees up the
grid & grid fed power that generates revenue is a win-win.
08
2015 | 2016 WONDERINC.COM
23. NEW DETROIT HOUSING | STRUCTURAL STEEL SOLUTION CATALOG 2015 | 2016 WONDERINC.COM
EXPLODED AXONOMETRIC SHOWING BUILDING COMPONENTS ABOVE. EXTERIOR VIEW OF BUILDING ASSEMBLIES BELOW.
2015 | 2016 WONDERINC.COM
24. NEW DETROIT HOUSING | STRUCTURAL STEEL SOLUTION CATALOG 2015 | 2016 WONDERINC.COM2015 | 2016 WONDERINC.COM
25. 2015 | 2016 WONDERINC.COMNEW DETROIT HOUSING | STRUCTURAL STEEL SOLUTION CATALOG 2015 | 2016 WONDERINC.COM
NEW DETROIT HOUSING IS A STORY ABOUT
DESIGN MEETING CONSTRUCTION USING
ISO SHIPPING CONTAINERS. IT SHOWS
HOW WE CAN REUSE, REPURPOSE, UPCYCLE
& MAKE RARE THE EVERYDAY OBJECT.
THE DESIGN MANDATE IS ABOUT FUTURE
PROOFING & BUILDING EFFICIENT SPACES,
MICRO ARCHITECTURES, GET-AWAY
COTTAGES OR URBAN CLOISTERS. IT
TAKES US ON A WONDER-FILLED SHIPPING
CONTAINER ADVENTURE & BRINGS US
BACK TO OUR OWN COMFORT ZONE.
27. WITH UNI QU E STRUC TURAL
STEEL CONSTRUCTION, USING
9 0 % R E C Y C L E D C O N T E N T ,
INNOVATI ON & RESILIENT
BUILDING TECHNI QUES, WE
ARE CHANGING THE WAY THAT
ARCHITECTURE IS UNDERSTOOD
& H O W I T C A N P O S I T I V E L Y
IMPACT OUR NEIGHBORHOODS,
R E G E N E R A T I N G O U R P O S T
U R B A N F A B R I C T O B E C O M E
THE NEW NATURE OF THE
ANTHROPOCENE ERA.
– WONDERINC.COM
“Urbanization, one of humankind’s most successful and
ambitious programs, is the triumph of the unnatural over
the natural, the grid over the organic… Underway on a
scale never before witnessed, one side effect of urbaniza-
tion is the liberation of vast depopulated territories for
the efficient production of ‘nature’.” – BRUCE MAU