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Sleek Shipping Container Home Rises Like a Starburst in the Desert

By Jessica Stewart on October 4, 2017

The stunning landscape of Joshua Tree is about to receive a futuristic twist when architect James Whitaker builds a contemporary shipping container home that rises up like a starburst. Construction will begin in the California desert next year for Whitaker's film producer client and his wife.

While we've seen some innovative shipping container homes, Whitaker's sleek, sophisticated design is as sculptural as it is functional. The Joshua Tree Residence will serve as a vacation home for the couple, who owns a 90-acre property near the wilderness preserve. In fact, the project came about after the client and his friends were visiting the Joshua Tree National Park.

Looking out into the landscape, a friend pulled up an image on the internet—an unrealized shipping container office concept from Whitaker. From there, the client met up with Whitaker at his London office and the work was adapted into a sophisticated 2,153-square-foot (200-square-meter) residence. The holiday home will contain a living room, kitchen, dining area and three bedrooms with concrete floors and minimal decor.

Painted white, the shipping containers give the home a clean, breezy look, reflecting the rusty oranges and greens of the environment and harmonizing with the landscape. A nearby carport fitted with solar panels will power the home and the container's starburst configuration was carefully planned by the architect.

“Each container is orientated to maximize views across the landscape, or to use the topography to provide privacy, depending on their individual use,” explains Whitaker. With the client in the creative arts, he was able to embrace the visionary style of the contemporary shipping container home, giving the British architect a chance to build his unrealized concept. “With a background in nurturing creative projects to fruition, he is, in many ways, the dream client!”