Multifamily Housing Container Unit Uniquely Created In West Hollywood, California

When one typically hears the word shipping container the words "sea box", "cargo hold", and "storage unit" usually first come to mind. One doesn’t normally equate a luxurious home, spacious condo, or sustainable building to shipping containers. The truth is, shipping containers make excellent building blocks for any of these projects.

Recently, a multifamily housing unit was uniquely created entirely out of shipping containers. What truly set the building apart was the metal panels that were utilized to create a unique exterior. The architects designed different segments to range in size, shape, color, and pattern. In doing so this gave the exterior both depth and the illusion of movement. “Metal Sales embraced our design, creating a nonstandard wall panel just for this project...” –Lorcan O’Herlihy, FAIA principal, Lorcan O’Herlihy Architects.

The exterior of the 11-unit housing project was constructed out of 12,900 square feet of perforated 36-inch T16-E wall panels. They were painted in a custom Coronado Red and Raucous Orange Kynar 500 PVDF. This unique building can be found at Formosa 1140, West Hollywood, California. One third of the building’s land is used to tie together several small parks. Architects are constantly creating new works of art out of buildings and shipping containers are the perfect building material for these works of art.

Formosa 1140,
West Hollywood, California.

General contractor: Richard Loring, Assoc. (AIA, Archetype, Los Angeles)
Architect: Lorcan O’Herlihy Architects, (Los Angeles)
Project developer: Habitat Group Los Angeles
Installer: Malott Metal Craft (Palmdale, California)
Metal wall panels: Metal Sales Manufacturing (Corp., Louisville, Ky)