The German Innovation Award, established by the German Design Council, recognizes cross-sector products and solutions that differ from previous solutions primarily in terms of user focus and added value. Containerwerk is one of the proud winners in the “Building & Elements” category in 2019!
Four used sea freight containers are refined into living space modules in Germany by Containerwerk’s innovative technology. Insulated in accordance with the German Energy Saving Ordinance and ready to live, the containers are already being sent on another long journey. The destination is the port of Puerto Limón in Costa Rica. From there the containers will be transported to Tres Equis in the heart of Costa Rica’s jungle. On site, the modules will be built into a completely self-sufficient guesthouse and research institute for the Rausch Schokoladen GmbH in just a 4-day construction phase.
The building.
The fine cocoa estate that will be built in Costa Rica is made out of four 40-foot containers, which were mechanically foamed and upgraded in our production halls and thus insulated according to EnEV standards.
Two containers form the basis. Two further containers are placed crosswise to each other. The upper two containers will contain sleeping and living units for up to eight people. Large glass elements are inserted in the front fronts of the containers, with a view over the rainforest and the cocoa plants. The entire upper floor is surrounded by a terrace made of regional wood.
On the ground floor, half of a container will be equipped as a bath and changing area for the workers on site. The other half contains the fully equipped laboratory where Rausch can conduct research. The second container on the ground floor becomes the lounge with a kitchen area and large dining table and a couch area. A meeting place for everyone. The two containers are about six meters apart. In this space a garage will be installed.
What’s special.
The cocoa estate lies in the middle of the jungle and within a biotope network. Since the Rausch GmbH in Costa Rica basically pursues an ecological concept, the construction of the estate from used sea freight containers is an obvious option. Due to the high degree of prefabrication of the containers in Germany, there are hardly any construction emissions on site, such as noise, dust or aisles for construction site logistics. The impact on the original nature of the region is kept to a minimum and the building can be dismantled at any time without leaving any residue. In addition, the solution is completely self-sufficient. This means that the buildings do not have to be connected to any infrastructure. Electricity is produced by a solar system and the building network has a septic tank. In a second stage, a water treatment plant will be installed. This means that research can be carried out completely independently and in the middle of the rainforest.
The journey continues.
The sea freight containers which were used by the Rausch GmbH to transport its cocoa beans across the oceans are now finding a new home and a new use in the rainforest. After the container modules have been manufactured in our production halls, the containers are loaded onto a container ship in the port of Hamburg and set off on their journey to Puerto Limón in Costa Rica. Under the hashtag #followtheyellowcontainer we will keep you updated about the project on our social media channels.
About Costa Rica.
To found a fine flavoured cocoa estate in Costa Rica is a good idea because the country is very easy to reach and economically and politically stable. In addition, much importance is attached to nature conservation and ecology.
Without it, (almost) nothing works: Our reach stacker is always used outdoors and indoors when the containers are being relocated or stacked. With a load capacity of 45,000 kg and a lifting height of 16m, the reach stacker can easily stack up to five containers on top of each other. You don’t need any special container gear to load the 40 ″ high cube giants. The curved telescopic arm achieves a maximum of reach and more space when stacking containers. For example: With a stack of containers that is 4 rows high and 3 rows deep, the top container in the second row can be reached and positioned without having to move the front container. Or: With a container stack that is 3 rows high and 3 rows deep, the top container in the third row can be easily reached without having to move the front containers. On the whole, a very efficient solution and a real help in everyday life, just like our high-performance insulated living containers.
A few weeks ago we were happy about the news that we made it from over 1000 applications to the longlist of the Frame Awards! Now we can proudly announce that we have made another step forward. Containerwerk is among five other companies nominated for the Frame Awards 2019 in the category “Sustainability”!
The “Sustainability” category rewards design solutions for interiors and spaces that are created with consideration for the social, economic and ecological footprint. The final jury decision will take place in Amsterdam in February. We are so excited!
Mercedes Benz MYVAN accompanied Containerwerk for one day and created a portrait of our founder Ivan Mallinowski that is well worth seeing. The video tells the vision of mobile living and how used sea freight containers are turned into sustainable living modules in an industrial process.
As the winner of the 2018 “Excellent Landmark” award in the “Landmarks in the Land of Ideas” competition, we were invited to Düsseldorf for the award winners’ reception. The award winners were welcomed there by Ina Scharrenberg, Minister for Home Affairs, Municipal Affairs, Building and Equality of the State of North Rhine-Westphalia, Thomas Buschman, Chairman of Deutsche Bank AG and Ute E. Weiland from the Land of Ideas Award.
“My congratulations go to the eleven award winners from North Rhine-Westphalia, who are bringing people together with their projects. They are taking new and innovative paths to strengthen social cohesion. With their ideas, they make our state an excellent place in many respects – we can be proud of that.” – Ina Scharrenberg, Minister for Home Affairs, Municipal Affairs, Building and Equality of the State of North Rhine-Westphalia.
The Containerwerk – Zukunft wohnt im Kubus project is one of the 100 innovative award winners in the 2018 “Landmarks in the Land of Ideas” competition. In keeping with the annual motto “Connecting worlds – strengthening cohesion,” the project shows how the joy of experimentation, curiosity and courage to rethink can give rise to forward-looking innovations in the field of construction. The initiative “Germany – Land of Ideas” and Deutsche Bank have jointly organized the innovation competition for 13 years. An independent jury selected Containerwerk – Zukunft wohnt im Kubus from almost 1,500 entries submitted.
The new Showroom Containers in Stuttgart are ready! With “Glühwein”, Chili con Carne and a great bar we officially celebrated the Showroom Opening. The upper floor consists of two 40″ containers connected to each other and thanks to our new cooperation with the MAGAZIN store in Stuttgart, we did supplement it with extra furniture. The lower container is based on our existing furniture range for a single container and shows how much function can be accommodated on a small area. Also part of the event was the team from Techfilm with their 10″ Virtual Reality Container. With their knowledge in VR-Technology they bring our upcoming projects onto the VR glasses and beam the “player” in new rooms and countries.
The Rausch Chocolate Company has established an institute in Costa Rica as they wish to bring back and re-establish fine old cocoa varieties that over time have become lost due to mass cultivation. At this site – far from civilisation in the heart of the jungle – they need a basecamp. Together, we came up with the idea to build a completely self-sufficient station out of containers featuring sleeping facilities, a small lab and a small office. There is, after all, no water and no electricity there. Planning has now been completed and in the next few months production work will begin. It will have its own water purification system and a solar unit for producing electricity that can be stored using silicon batteries. We will ultimately be delivering a stand-alone solution that can be deployed anyway in the world.
Containerwerk made it into the Green Product Selection this year and won the Green Product Award 2018 in the category Architecture. Since 2013, the Green Product Award has honoured innovative and sustainable design products for sustainable consumption. A total of 400 manufacturers and designers from 25 countries submitted entries.
Together with TECH-FILM GmbH, we built a virtual reality container at the beginning of the year. The Stuttgart-based company with high demands on technical designs creates creative solutions for film and virtual reality projects. A mobile high-tech room was created from a discarded 10 ”container.
The VR CUBE has built-in motion sensors, displays, batteries, lighting and VR technology. The latest model of the HTC VIVE series is used with high-resolution OLED displays for sophisticated, visual playback, the associated controllers and sound. In this way, you can travel the big wide world in the smallest of all containers.
Whoever wears the glasses can beam themselves to our container to Milan, which we presented there during the Milan Design Week. Our current project in Costa Rica, a self-sufficient container solution with office and living space, can already be admired with VR glasses.
