This project investigates the use of the shipping container in the design of a holiday house on a prime site at Sydney’s famous Bondi Beach. In contemplating a holiday house at Australia’s most popular stretch of sand – one that uses the low-cost object of the shipping container – the project required re-thinking the casual living environment of the holiday house within Bondi’s context of high density and property values.

The prime location coupled with a stackable container system creates an opportunity to provide not just a single dwelling to be enjoyed by a few, but a number of accommodation units to be enjoyed by many. The Stacked Vacationer layers container structures vertically to provide 20 independent holiday ‘platforms’ which can either remain independent for a quiet couples getaway or connect to provide for several families enjoying a summer holiday retreat. Each accommodation unit enjoys expansive views of North Bondi and access to the existing coastal walk, embedding itself in the landscape.

The containers become ‘wetboxes’, retrofitted with kitchens, bathrooms, and laundries. Made off-site and then trucked into position they reduce waste, allow for a high quality finish and speed up construction time. Like beach boxes that are unpacked during the day and then packed up at night, the Stacked Vacationer allows for a free floor plan during the day and night screens fold out to provide for privacy.

The reused containers retain their external condition and are stacked on exposed concrete slabs connected through a lift and stair core. Each accommodation unit is protected with folding glass screens and a mesh skin to mediate the vast array of weather conditions present at north Bondi. Internally the flexible fabric screens fold in and out of the container, giving the vacationer a multi-layered texture constantly responding to the weather and the user.