Artist and designer Julio Garcia is renowned for his mixed media prints. When it came to creating his own home and studio, he embraced a larger scale while seamlessly blending disparate elements into a cohesive whole. Garcia’s innovative project in Savannah, Georgia, incorporates industrial shipping containers, natural materials, and the lush local foliage to craft a distinctive living space.
Savannah, a bustling port city, has a surplus of shipping containers, often rendered obsolete by the one-way flow of consumer goods from China to America. Garcia repurposed two such containers to build a budget-conscious home, exemplifying sustainable and creative architecture.
The design features two 40-foot shipping containers placed approximately 6 feet apart on a foundation of steel I-beams resting on concrete piers. The gap between the containers was filled with a wood-framed floor and shed roof, with the container sidewalls removed to create a spacious open living area. Two I-beams span the room, providing structural support in place of the removed walls. Garcia preserved the containers’ original, weathered exteriors, serving as a nod to their industrial origins. Natural wood accents highlight the gap between the containers and the newly created window openings.
Inside, Garcia contrasted the rugged exterior with a clean, contemporary aesthetic. The kitchen is subtly separated from the open living area by wood flooring, in contrast to the black-tinted concrete used elsewhere. The black floors and countertops provide a striking contrast to the white walls, which serve as a backdrop for displaying artwork. The home includes a single bedroom located at one end of one container. The layout suggests that creating a second bedroom by enclosing the opposite end of the other container would be relatively simple. Garcia retained the original container loading doors, which open to decks at either end of the house, blending indoor and outdoor living spaces.
Julio Garcia’s home is a testament to the potential of repurposed materials and creative design, offering a unique blend of industrial and natural elements.