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Studio Edwards

DESIGNER: Studio Edwards BUILDER: Studio Edwards BUILD DATE: 21st Feb 2018

LOCATION: Melbourne, Australia PHOTO CREDITS: Tony Gorsevski RATING: 3 Stars.

Ben Edwards is the creator of the stark metal box named House 28 from the firm Studio Edwards, a company based in Melbourne, Australia. Located on the Surf Coast of Wye River in Victoria, this getaway vacation home is built right between Lorne and Apollo Bay. Both the house and architect, House 28 and Studio Edwards, won a nomination in the 2018 Houses Awards for the home in the New Houses Under 200 m2 category.

Build Method

Constructed from three 20ft (12M) High Cube ISO shipping containers this green-roofed vacation home uses a rainwater reservoir and filtration system to capture water and features double-glazed doors and windows to increase energy efficiency.

While the outside may look like a cold metal box, the interior is entirely opposite with complete wooden furnishings with marine plywood giving off a warm feeling. The metal look also has a purpose as it further insulates with galvanized steel sheeting. The roof is also covered with native plants to provide extra insulation.

"It (plants on the roof) also minimizes [the house's] visual impact to its surroundings and from the road above," said Edwards.

Two of the shipping containers connect to build the living space with a bathroom, laundry, and the entrance. The third container is a space for resting with two bedrooms, a toilet, and a shower. The separate containers are placed at an angle towards each other and conjoined with a blackbutt timber deck resembling a boomerang. The house is securely anchored to the hillside by steel stilts on top of deep concrete pile foundations.

"They were chosen as an efficient way to build on this steeply sloping site and were sourced from the nearby Port Melbourne where many shipping containers arrive from overseas," the studio's founder, Ben Edwards.

Set with the view of The Wye river and Australia’s Otway Coast, the spacious full-height double-glazed window tempers the narrowness of the buildings. The home interior looks seamless, with the walls, floors, cupboards, and furniture all made from the same wood.

“It is a very minimalist designed interior with the least furnishing possible, one bed, one sofa, a wood fireplace, etc. It is not apparent from the outside that the house is made of shipping containers except the doors. They left the doors unchanged so you can tell what sustainable materials it is made from.”

To camouflage the metal in the forestry around, the designer also installed planting wires on the northern side of the home to encourage foliage to grow and ultimately make it at home with its surroundings.

Interbode Thoughts

House 28 is striking in its clean metal façade but that’s not what is really special about it. Making full use of a difficult unforgiving site, its hard out shell hides a very soft embrace within its curved shape. We like this part of the design execution especially - the milky uniform plywood with eccentric angled rooms, doors and joinery has some serious design cred but also sets a neat blank canvas for the real hero - its views as it faces the coast and the Wye River. It may not look very homely from the outside, but we are interested in grabbing a good book and a weekend here soon.