20' container mobile hotel room in Minneapolis

LightHouse, now Light Hotel, premiered their 20' container hotel room at the Minneapolis Institute of Arts.  In their own words, lightHouse is “an urban ecotourism beacon and postcard for sustainability.” For a full description and drawings of the container, visit the MIA's story. Alchemy Architects, the builders of WeeHouse, led the project. The added bonus—the container came from Super Cubes!!

Super Cubes and Alchemy worked together to find the right container for their needs. We added in two openings for them for the windows. We then brought the container over to the U of MN for students from the College of Design and various other partners to insulate the container and finish it with incredible high-end materials to create a self-sustained container. It is powered by solar power on the roof. It has a closed water system so it does not need to be connected to water and sewer, allowing the container to go to all sorts of different places.

The layout of the container makes the most of every cubic inch of the container. The container doors open to a wall of glass including the entry to the container. There is a small seating area by the big windows. There is a small step up (to provide room for the plumbing below) to a smaller area with the sink and the door to the bathroom. The small bathroom has both the toilet and shower in one. Beyond the sink and door to the bathroom is the bed with a large window. The bedroom area is narrower than the front front of the container because the mechanical room takes up a small area next to the bedroom. That area is only accessible from the outside of the container which makes servicing the container easier without disturbing guests.

Naturally, Super Cubes went to the big reveal at the MIA event. I took pictures and videos of the container. I was accompanied by my associate who thought the whole thing was fascinating. Apologies in advance for the less-than-steady video, but the container was attracting a TON of excitement so there were lots of people in a small area.