Container Cottage
The Rioux Family Jason, 38; Victoria, 39; Celeste, 9; Renée, 7; Hunter, 2
It’s the weekend and that means one thing in the Rioux household — packing up the kids and driving two hours from their 100-year-old semi-detached house in Toronto to their 140-acre property near Bobcaygeon, Ont. But there’s no tradi- tional cottage on the land; the old log cabin that once sat there had to be torn down, thanks to hungry carpenter ants. Instead, the family built a unique, off-grid, all-season vaca-
tion home that can’t be beat when it comes to durability, secu- rity and keeping the unwanted parts of nature out. Dubbed the “octopod,” the Rioux’s weekend residence is built from seven recycled metal shipping containers. It’s a 1,350-sq.-ft. space with a central hub that acts as a living room. Containers branch out from the middle, each one acting as a separate room: there’s a dining room, a kitchen, a bathroom, two bedrooms, a workshop and a TV room that doubles as a bedroom. Rioux admits he’s a pretty handy guy, but this project was a
huge undertaking that took a couple of years from inception to fruition — a chunk of that time was spent researching and working on design plans. With an interest in shipping con- tainers used as homes around the world, Rioux learned every- thing he needed to know, from where to find containers (“any city that has a port has a natural buildup of shipping contain- ers that you can buy”) to how to educate engineers so they could sign off on the structurally sound containers to satisfy building codes. The family’s main objective was to spend $100 per square
foot or less all-in, which means their final price had to include the power and water systems. Toss in their 3,000-sq.-ft. roof, concrete floors and glass doors (which are covered by the ship- ping containers’ steel doors when the family heads back to the
city) and they still achieved their goal: in total, they spent about $120,000. With such a cool, unconventional layout, it’s easy to forget
you’re in a set of shipping crates. “It really feels roomy — there’s a lot of natural light from windows up in the roof and the patio doors at the end of each container,” Rioux says. He is also teach- ing his kids to conserve energy. Solar panels are used to charge batteries that provide power to the refrigerator, television and charging cellphones, and the space is also equipped with a solar water-pumping system. Plus, the kids are spending lots of time outdoors hanging out in nature — catching minnows and turtles, paddle boating — and not staring at screens. Rioux is so passionate about this style of alternative living
that he started a company called Sea Container Cabin that helps folks build their own one-of-a-kind shipping-container homes. He’s become quite the expert on design and construc- tion techniques and off-grid energy forms, and offers one-on- one consultations for those interested in “creating their own creative residence.” In the meantime, the octopod has garnered a following of
fans. Last year the family hosted an open house as part of the Green Energy Doors Open initiative (which showcases success stories of sustainable energy dwellings and projects across the country) and ended up with 250 people — including a couple who flew in from California — trekking through the woods just to see the place. He’s keen to show families the other side of life. “There’s a desire for alternative living methods and although it’s not for everyone, it can work for people who are motivated by challenge and want to pick a different path. I’m excited to see people building their own unique projects.”
NOVEMBER 2017 | CPA MAGAZINE | 35
Tracy Hanes /The Toronto Star
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