Mumbai family builds unique six shipping container home in Alibaug

Mishal Pardiwala (centre) with his father and grandmother looking at their Alibaug home pictures on the laptop at his Cuffe Parade home. Pic/Bipin Kokate

There is one home in Alibaug that does not need celebrity names to make it an instantly recognisable address. Hop into a rickshaw at Mandwa Jetty and simply say, 'Container Home'. The rickshaw will trundle off to Jirhad village in Alibaug, coming to a halt outside a vibrant orange and black one-storey home made entirely of shipping containers. The Pardiwalas of Cuffe Parade have put a new spin into the fashionable Alibaug address. Their house is called the Orange Box project, but locally known simply as Container Home.

Mishal Pardiwala, 32, said, "My grandmother, father, Hyder, mother, Hansu, and brother, Mikail, and I call the home, 'The Orange Box Project' because we are looking eventually for it to become an artist's retreat, hold workshops in the space, etc. This is for the future. Right now though, it is our home. While the structure is complete, the interiors are still being done. We have to install beds, cupboards, cabinets and living room seating."

Ashit Sheth (left) with Hyder Pardiwala

The Pardiwalas said that the home which has three bedrooms, "is made up of six shipping containers. Each container is 40 feet in length by 8 feet in width. These are shipping containers that have outlived their use and were bought from a Panvel yard. The house also has a hall with a high ceiling, an open plan kitchen, a den area for relaxation, four bathrooms and a central courtyard. It also has a 1,500 sq ft terrace." Mishal added, "the orange colour was chosen because of the red soil of Alibaug and, the fact that there are a lot of mango wadis here, it goes with the landscape."

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Off the grid
The go-green mantra is the signature tune. Hansu, Mishal's mother, said, "We are doing our best to live sustainably and made a conscious effort to lower the carbon footprint. We have also abstained for putting in a swimming pool for the same eco-friendly reasons." Project consultants and engineers Worli seaface resident Ashit Sheth and partner Gautam Asudani said, "The Pardiwala's enthusiasm was infectious and made slightly unique challenges very interesting. For instance, the first challenge was to get the containers into Alibaug. Once there, they could not get into the interiors as the village roads are narrow and the huge trailers could not manoeuvre inside. We used two hydra cranes to lift the containers. We also had to see that the overhead cables on the road were moved out of the way with a wooden stick so that the steel containers would not be electrified."

Mishal (left) with his brother Mikail in the Container Home

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Hrishikesh More architect said, "this was a very off-grid design, The courtyard is in the middle of the house. The roof is inverted so it will collect rainwater; rainwater harvesting is done within the home."

The Pardiwalas, who make eco-friendly clothing and wellness products under their brand name, TreeWear, have a long-term vision of moving their work production to Alibaug one day, "rope in the locals and help the women of the local community earn a living," says the family for whom eco-consciousness, carbon footprint and sustainable living is more than just ultrahip, lingo to spout between bites of finger food.

The exterior of the Container Home

6
No. of containers needed to build the home

Tackling summer and monsoon

For those asking what about the summer heat that could come through the walls of the steel container, this has been managed by using a 4" glass wool insulation on the interiors, which are panelled to look like a normal painted wall . The house also has sound proofing to block out the sound of rain beating on the metal exterior.

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