Stacked Vacationer

A high rise speculation on the Australian beach box, the Stacked Vactioner creates airy infrastructure for holidaying over Bondi Beach.

Project Overview
Characteristics
Specifications

Client Brief
This project investigates the use of the shipping container in the design of a holiday house on a prime site at Sydney’s famous Bondi Beach. In contemplating a holiday house at Australia’s most popular stretch of sand – one that uses the low-cost object of the shipping container – the project required re-thinking the casual living environment of the holiday house within Bondi’s context of high density and property values.
Design Response
The prime location coupled with a stackable container system creates an opportunity to provide not just a single dwelling to be enjoyed by a few, but a number of accommodation units to be enjoyed by many. The Stacked Vacationer layers container structures vertically to provide 20 independent holiday ‘platforms’ which can either remain independent for a quiet couples getaway or connect to provide for several families enjoying a summer holiday retreat. Each accommodation unit enjoys expansive views of North Bondi and access to the existing coastal walk, embedding itself in the landscape.
The containers become ‘wetboxes’, retrofitted with kitchens, bathrooms, and laundries. Made off-site and then trucked into position they reduce waste, allow for a high quality finish and speed up construction time. Like beach boxes that are unpacked during the day and then packed up at night, the Stacked Vacationer allows for a free floor plan during the day and night screens fold out to provide for privacy.
The reused containers retain their external condition and are stacked on exposed concrete slabs connected through a lift and stair core. Each accommodation unit is protected with folding glass screens and a mesh skin to mediate the vast array of weather conditions present at north Bondi. Internally the flexible fabric screens fold in and out of the container, giving the vacationer a multi-layered texture constantly responding to the weather and the user.
Stacked Vacationer- Characteristics
Key values
- Flexible and adaptable
- Minimal infrastructure
- Fast and high quality construction
- Variety of views from each dwelling
Key materials
- Concrete structural frame
- ‘Wetbox’ manufactured wet area container unit
- Stainless Steel mesh cladding
- Fabric partition screens
Stacked Vacationer- Design Specifications
Core deliverables
- Dwelling platform
- 2 x bathrooms
- Kitchen
- Dressing Area
- Storage Area
Service offering
- Concept Design
Architect
Workshop Architecture, Zilka Studio, RMIT Architecture Program
People
Project Directors: Simon Whibley, Leanne Zilka
Project Team: Simon Whibley, Leanne Zilka, Jessica Heald, William Heath, Matt Ellis
Client
AC-CA
Date completed
2013
Location
Bondi, New South Wales

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