XPIRAL wraps recycled shipping container in orange tarp for 'casa en los urrutias'

designed as an extension to a small fisherman’s house, ‘casa en los urrutias’ by XPIRAL is shaped by a reused shipping container wrapped in a vibrant orange tarp. the spanish studio developed the distinctive intervention, overlooking a salty lake in southern spain, for a client dreaming of a new life by the sea. the preexisting residential structure was initially in need of both a renovation to foster comfort, and an extension in order to adapt to the requirements of its new occupants. with the use of its atypical materials and elements, the proposal marks the design team’s continued investigation into the concept of direct recycling versus the typical approach of industrial recycling.

all images © david frutos

in the design of ‘casa en los urrutias,’ the team at XPIRAL seeks a recycling strategy that is tactile and atmospheric. the process began with an initial development phase which saw strategies such as digital manufacturing used to produce a design that could be built with ordinary technologies and simple tools. a shipping container was repurposed and manipulated to respond to its context, whose urban fabric is characterized by semi-detached houses, together with the climatic conditions of the marine environment of the mediterranean sea.

XPIRAL introduces the shipping container as a attached extension to the house. the container is drilled along several points and customized with a specifically positioned prosthesis that enables new spaces, including a shower adapted to human body measurements and a skylight that optimizes natural lighting to the interior. the volume is wrapped in a layer of insulation together with a metallic orange truck tarpaulin sourced from a local company. the new body was prefabricated in a nearby workshop before its transfer to the site.

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project info:

project title: casa en los urrutias

architecture: XPIRAL

location: los urrutias, murcia, spain

photography: david frutos