At the Australian National U., a six-story residence hall for graduate was constructed from prefabricated modules based on shipping containers. (Hutchinson Builders photos).
Canberra, Australia — Colleges that experience rapid rises in enrollment often resort to drastic housing measures: They put students in motels for months, or crowd three or four students into dorm rooms designed for two.
But at the Australian National University here, booming international enrollment and a high proportion of out-of-town students prompted an unusual rapid response: The university built a residence hall out of stacked shipping containers. It was the first such project in Australia, and one of few in the world.
The new facility, known as the Laurus Wing, was constructed as part of a dormitory complex called Ursula Hall. The Laurus Wing opened in three stages in 2010 with 161 studios, seven handicapped-accessible rooms, and 24 L-shaped one-bedroom units made from one and a half containers each. The rooms, intended for graduate students, range from 237 to 377 square feet. Also incorporated were computer, common-room, laundry, and bicycle-parking facilities.
The first stages of the building opened just six months after the container modules were ordered, far quicker than a regular structure would have. The Australian company that designed the modules, Quicksmart Homes, originally planned to use existing containers, but found that the necessary modifications would be too costly, says Brian Hood, a regional manager for Hutchinson Builders, the Queensland-based construction firm for the project.
So the university turned to a Chinese manufacturer of shipping and self-storage containers to build the modules, which the company did by altering its standard containers to add in hallway and balcony components, as well as such design features as drainage and flashing. The company also insured that the units met Australian design requirements for fire resistance and acoustic insulation, and it installed kitchens, bathrooms, and other interior features.
“We found we could manufacture purpose-built containerized modules in China cheaper and more carbon-efficiently” than existing containers could be modified in Australia, Mr. Hood says.
The Chinese company sent the fitted-out modules to Australia on ships, stacked as containers generally are. Hutchinson transported them by road the 200 miles from Port Botany, in Sydney, to Canberra, and then configured them—as many as 18 a day—to create the first two stages of the six-story facility. For the third and final stage of the project, Hutchinson made modules itself at its Queensland facility and brought them 750 miles to the campus here in Canberra, the national capital.
Each unit has a small bathroom by the front door, then a kitchenette and a study area with built-in bookcases. A single bed is placed by a sliding door that opens onto a private balcony large enough for a table and chair—though certainly not for a kegger. Widthwise, the units are undeniably snug. For its next student-housing project, nearing completion at Central Queensland University, in Mackay, Hutchinson has used a wider but considerably shorter unit with square footage similar to that of the Laurus rooms.
During Canberra winters, the mercury often drops to about 20 degrees Fahrenheit, but small wall heaters suffice to keep the modules warm. Hutchinson considered air-conditioning the units for summer, but decided instead to rely on cross ventilation through the sliding balcony door and louvered windows above the entryway. On a recent scorching afternoon—it’s summer in the southern hemisphere—a unit opened for a visitor was surprisingly comfortable.
Set among eucalyptus trees, the Laurus Wing has a utilitarian look relieved by colored glass panels beneath the balcony railings. The building’s appearance and many design features won Quicksmart Homes an Australian Capital Territory Sustainable Cities Award.
The idea of using shipping containers for accommodations is not new. But increasing concerns over sustainability and affordability are encouraging an embrace of the shipping containers for building, according to Rodney Moss, a professor of architecture at the University of Canberra who is also a director of a leading Australian design firm, Cox Architecture. Writing in Architecture Bulletin, Mr. Moss noted that five years ago the Dutch company Tempohousing completed a village made from modified Chinese shipping containers that now houses 1,000 students in the Netherlands. And a 2007 competition in the U.S. for the dorm room of the future was won by a modular design.
Architects have also looked to containers for such projects as prefabricated homes that evoke the nostalgia of caravans by the beach. “If you ask around,” wrote Mr. Moss, “you’ll find many individual small practitioners are experimenting with single-dwelling prefab prototypes.”
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