8/3/2019 Dig This . . . Logical Homes

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46 STHBydGS. | 12.16.2011

were a thinking the same, someone isnt

thinking, Genera George patton once sai.

Those exact wors are behin the ver essence o

what logica Homes stans or. prouce b dearia

design ssociates, with oces base in anhattan

Beach, logica Homes was orme in 2006 to exore

the use o S shiing containers as construction

eements. The containers, which take about 12 weeks to

abricate an construct, are oca mae in Wimington

with ess than 30 architects, engineers an roucers

seeing the entire rocess through. rchitect peter

dearia beieves the South Ba is the erect ace to

imement such a unique iea.

The container home was born out o the South Ba

because the cost o construction became so rohibitive,

that thought o these aternative was, dearia sai.

B oing things reabricate in a actor, we are abe

to quanti exact what it is going to cost. you know

exact what the en resut is an that is an imortant

art o what we o.

sing such containers enabes the homes to have

reusabe materias an a cost eective mouar stee

rame. Just a ew other sustainabe roucts in the

homes incue: raon insuation (the same materia

use on sace shuttes), ceramic base materias an

aint (roviing better insuation, which isnt etroeum

base) an recce enim insuation. When it comes

to the iea o conserving water, toiet xtures in the

home have the otion o a u ush or a ha ush. The

roo is aso mae o rigi oam or reabricate anes,

which sna together. t isnt that we use containers. t

is our hiosoh to anaze other inustries an aat

their rocess, materias an ieas into our aate, which

is base in esign an construction, sai dearia.

When buiing a logica Home, it takes about 400

kiowatt hours o energ to moi an existing cargo

container to a usabe structura comonent or a

buiing. n comarison, it requires 8000 kwh to met

own 8000 ouns o cargo container stee into new

stee beams an shaes. This equates to structures with

a reuce carbon ootrint o 95 ercent. focusing

on the iea o sustainabiit, such containers can aso

be converte into cassrooms, restaurants an oces

an are buit to stanar B/B buiing coes that

ahere to the same reguations as an reguar buit

home. cou have a o these things mae in hina,

but when ou think about sustainabiit, it just oesnt

make sense, sai dearia.

rea having constructe 11 container homes, one

is ocate in eono Beach--the rst logica Home

dearia an his coman ever buit. Whie the home

has man origina an green eatures, one interesting

attribute secic to the home incues airane hanger

oors, which are 20 eet wie an ta.

logica Homes has aso constructe other houses

an buiings in Venice, Boe Heights an long Beach,

an has even exane into evaa an rizona.

panning to exten their reach in the uture, logica

Homes is esecia intereste in aing own roots

across the South. The march to their own beat an

man o our cients are thinking ahea o the curve,

dearia sai. The are somewhat visionar an are

ractica an ragmatic.

fu aware that logica Homes is an untraitiona

rouct, the coman is tring to change the anscae

or what a home can be. With such a unique iea in a

goba cimate that has become steaast on romoting

more environmenta rien roucts, logica Homes

has receive interest rom such ar awa aces as

rica, dubai an Korea. dearia aso sai he gets

inquires ever a rom eoe across the countr,

in near ever state, hoing to earn more about the

coman an exact what it oes. yet, man o the

e-mais the coman receives ask just how easibe it

is or them to get a container home. dearia sas their

are a ew imortant stes an variabes to consier

beore making such a ecision.

The rst ste in buiing a logica Home is to get

the uning through a construction oan or what man

ca a har mone oan. n even with the ae

benet o being abe to o own a logica Home

near anwhere, a at, eve iece o an is the most

esirabe ocation. soing iece o an can make the

cost greater. so, with so man moving arts uring

eiver an instaation, incuing the cargo containers,

trucks an cranes, eas access is high imortant.

Thats the case with a 16 logica Homes, which are

a range o ierent stes an sizes. The smaest home

er square oot is the Kara 320 moe, which is on 320

square eet. With one beroom an one bath, its iea

usage is as a retreat or cabin. ter that, the majorit

o the homes range anwhere between 640 an 3,580

square eet. ha meium between both sizes are

the ataan moes, which have two ierent stes

with three an ve berooms an are 2,027 an 3,210

square eet. The Seto ste has our ierent esigns,

with the argest o a homes being 3,580 square eet

an two stories. t even boasts ve berooms an 3.5

bathrooms. n just ike an reguar home, near ever

container has a garage, orch an eck.

However, how much wi such homes with their

unique green ieas set the average intereste buer

back? The Kara moe costs $59,000, whie or the two

custom ataan homes, the rices are $299,000 an

$399,000. The most exensive homes are Seto esigns,

unsurrising consiering the b an arge have the

most square ootage o an home. for the one stor

homes that are uner 2,000 square eet, the amounts

are $269,000 an $299,000. for the two arger home

esigns, the amounts are $399,000 an $449,000.

The nature o the buiing an the house conguration

can aso change the amount. yet, de aria sas such

costs are a high baseine, which een on the market

rice o stee an other materias at the time o buiing.

We are awas thinking about how things can be as

oose to how the are, dearia sai. The containers

are a means to that en an it is great.

written by: Quinn roberts

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