Design studio Doone Silver Kerr turned a stack of used shipping containers into a hotel and wine bar with a geometric facade of welded fins that function as sunshades.
The Stow-Away Hotel in Waterloo is made from end-of-life shipping containers that have been used "countless times previously" according to the practice.
At five storeys high, the structure is made of 25 nine-metre-long containers stacked five in a row.
Large windows have been cut into the street-facing ends of the containers, with faceted steel sunshades aligned across the top corner.
As well as giving the Stow-Away a distinctive facade, the projecting fins shade the rooms from the glare of the sun.
The top of the fins are white, to match the facade, while the underside are a contrasting orange – a reference to the steel of the shipping containers.
A white fritted overlay screens the bottom of the window for privacy.
With the Unwined wine bar on the ground level, the 20 containers above each hold a miniature apartment-style room lined with marble and stained plywood.
The beds are multi-functional to make the most of the constrained space, with wall cushions along one side so that it can double as a place to sit and watch television.
Each room has a micro-kitchen equipped with a hot plate, sink and dishwasher, along with crockery and cooking equipment.
Muted colours and lighting were chosen to enhance the "tunnel effect" of the long, narrow rooms, said the studio.
Special rubber pads have been placed between the storeys along with acoustic doors to block out the noise of the trains that pass on the main line from Waterloo Station at the back of the hotel.
Gantries at the back of the hotel provide access to the rooms, with lifts between floors and balcony areas for guests to look out over the London skyline.
Unwined –which used to be a pop-up wine bar in south London's Tooting Market – now has a permanent home in the base of the building.
The sides of the containers have been cut away to create a continuous joined space, which is lined with wood and shelves of wine.
"Stow-Away demonstrates our enthusiasm for new construction techniques that can unlock the potential of complex, constrained sites, responding to the demands for increasingly flexible, innovative, technology-driven urban structures," said Ross Kerr, a director at the design studio.
Doone Silver Kerr was founded in London in 2010 by Richard Doone, John Silver and Ross Kerr.
Other upcoming projects in the UK making use of shipping containers include micro homes with green roofs and a nine-storey office block that is aiming to become the world's tallest building made of the steel boxes.
Photography by Edmund Sumner.
Project credits:
Architect: Doone Silver Kerr
Client: Stow Projects & Ciel Capital
Main contractor: CMT Construction
Structural engineer: Price & Myers/ JMS Consulting Engineers
M&E: Ferguson Brown
Acoustics and building control: MLM
Fire engineer: WSP
Sustainability: Stroma