Could 'Jenga' hotel Hive-Inn be the future of sustainable design?
‘Jenga' buildings composed of recycled shipping containers could be the next innovative architectural trend, if Hong Kong studio OVA has its way.
The firm has designed Hive-Inn, an unusual sustainable concept that sees shipping containers slotted in and out of the building's grid-like structural frame according to requirements.
The flexible tower would primarily be used as a hotel, although cargo boxes could be added and used as residential housing or as offices. OVA even envisions that the concept could be adapted to create disaster relief housing solutions.
The Hive-Inn concept, originally submitted by the group for the Radical Innovation Award, would allow for exterior advertising or sponsored brand rooms by luxury companies. Alternatively, brands could use the containers as temporary showrooms.
A central core runs through the building, housing elevators, stairways and electricity and plumbing, and leading on to corridors and indoor patios. The concept offers almost infinite possibilities in terms of the layout of the rooms.
The idea of mobile hotel rooms has been something of a trend over recent years. In 2013 Sleeping Around, a hotel comprising individual shipping containers, was launched in Antwerp.
And earlier this year a shipping container residential building known as Mill Junction was unveiled as student accommodation in Johannesburg, South Africa.
