Luxury hotel experience in a recycled shipping container

Shipping containers have been repurposed to create a luxury hotel at a California winery

Spotted: California winery Cass Wines has opened a hotel amidst the rolling hills of its scenic vineyard. The Geneseo Inn was developed by Ecotech Design and is based around the use of 20 recycled shipping containers, set around a 60-foot live oak tree.

The design of the repurposed containers mirrors that of the vineyards, with the 8-foot wide containers echoing the rows of grapevines, which are planted 8 feet apart. The buildings are also offset both horizontally and vertically, to provide a constant play of light and shadow during the day. Each unit also includes a 12-foot high raised roof area to provide additional light and space.

Locally-sourced, recycled materials, including recycled steel, glass, barn materials and decking, are also used on the exterior, which is painted to complement the wineries’ labels. The buildings are raised above the vineyard on steel platforms to provide views and create a covered parking area. The roofs of the buildings were designed to make it easy to convert to a solar or green roof in the future.

Walter Scott Perry, founder and principal of Ecotech Design, is a major proponent of container architecture. He explains that the structures at the winery “become truly integrated with their environment. Both container units and the vineyard itself have been recycled – a time-tested adaptive-reuse design strategy.” 

At Springwise, we have seen steel shipping containers repurposed for a variety of innovative uses. Some of these include mobile vaccination centres, sustainable homes and a giant ship battery.

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