ecotechdesign has just completed a completely off-the-grid shipping container hybrid house and photo studio in Joshua Tree, which is located in California’s Mojave desert. The project combines high-efficiency construction methods with smart design, which means that consumers now have an option beyond prefabricated homes. ecotechdesign offers sustainable, recycled, and affordable habitats that are generally much more accessible than past prefabricated options. They like to call it “uncontained” living. Also known as The Tim Palen Studio at Shadow Mountain, the hybrid home is a 2nd generation kit-like house that is an alternative to pre-fab homes. The hybrid house design is based on the Prius automobile engineering concept: combining pre-engineered building and energy conservation with custom design options and flexibility. The basic home is made from recycled steel ISO containers, a Butler pre-engineered building, a 10,000 gallon steel water tank, and a metal shade canopy wi [...]

Located just steps away from the ocean shore, The Ettley residence was inspied by its landscape and reinterprets the relationship between solid and voids, a concept you can find in the field of arts: “The Aluminum and wood umbrella over the blue glass, which appear to be blocks of frozen blue Pacific ocean, juxtapose against the solid wood boxes giving an appearance of a modern seaside sculpture“. The house was designed by Californian-based architects Studio 9one2 and is a modern addition to the array of beach houses in the LA area. [...]