Indoor Outdoor Living
Creativity explodes in the spaces between the containers.
A Spark of Color
Custom Tile
A splash of custom color adds a feeling of joy and abundance to the tiny half bath.
Stretch Your Imagination
Room for Play
We did not compromise function for design when it comes to making the home family friendly. Mondrian design creates nooks and crannies to story plenty of toys and projects.
Property Details
The Cordell House, designed by Houston Architect Christopher Robertson, was an experiment in efficient, low-waste construction. It is comprised of two 40’ containers and a 20’ kitchen unit in the main house (1530 sf, 2 bed-1.5 bath) and a single 40’ container for a freestanding 1 bed, 1 bath accessory dwelling, and a 500 sf deck between the two, with a panelized roof and floor system.with extensive commercial insulated glass wall and south facing light-well, the home needs little artificial light during the daytime. It features loads of custom features including a Unico high-velocity HVAC system, aluminum plate counter tops, a water permeable, tankless hot water, a recycled glass driveway, and custom-colored Enduro fiberglass paneled walls. A unique ceramic coating serves as the only wall insulation, and no sheetrock (the most wasteful, evil building product in common usage) or traditional fiberglass insulation (the second most evil product) were used; instead all wall paneling is of zero-formaldehyde, medical grade, water resistant Medex fiberboard and recycled cotton batting were substituted. Commercial grade copper plumbing and metal clad cable were installed rather than plastic, PVC or Romex wiring. As a result of the panelized, partially prefabricated building systems, with minimal traditional lumber was incorporated, as well as a meticulous recycling program, the entire home was built without a dumpster at either shop or site, and only 12 contractor bags of trash were generated, primarily contractors’ lunch waste and used caulk tubes, rather than the usual mountain of scrap lumber, plywood and sheetrock. We cleaned up more than that from the original lot before construction!
Subsequently the owners purchased an elevated 53’, 424 sf studio guest unit for the adjacent lot. The House was featured in Dwell Magazine, local publications, and the Rice Design Alliance home tour.
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