22 September 2010

Shipping container living opens at Ursies

22 September 2010 | johnboy

The ANU is letting us all know that the long touted shipping container accommodation is now open:

Australia’s first medium rise, modular accommodation for students will be officially opened at The Australian National University today.

“The Laurus Wing of Ursula Hall will provide purpose-built accommodation for 213 students, with support from the Commonwealth via the National Rental Affordability Scheme (NRAS) and the Better Universities Renewal Fund (BURF),” said ANU Vice-Chancellor Professor Ian Chubb.

“At Laurus we’ve taken an innovative approach, and built, for the first time in Australia, high-quality, medium-rise, modular units that cater specifically to student needs.

“These units are quick to build and erect, with construction taking less than less than six months, allowing ANU to respond quickly to increasing demand for student accommodation.

Watching them go up (easily seen from the CSIRO) I have to confess they look great.

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ajd12:19 am 24 Sep 10

I must point out that “officially opened” means stage 1 was open seven months ago, and stage 2 was open by the beginning of last month.

Mathman8:38 pm 23 Sep 10

pollyanna said :

Could this be applied more widely to enhance affordable housing in the ACT?

Why, they could build them on the sites that previously had those anti-social blocks of housing trust flats.

M Rose5:17 pm 23 Sep 10

Having been in one (a studio) I can say, they are very impressive on the inside also. It’s like if Ikea designed an apartment, very good use of space with no area (bathroom, kitchen, study and bed) feeling compromised or cramped, and very well soundproofed and heated.
I’m not sure about the use of them as a housing solution though,they are quite narrow and I think I would not be crazy about spending large amounts of time in them without alternative places to relax. You would, for instance, not be able to entertain more than one or two people. While the Laurus wing isn’t a college in itself, it does have communal spaces like a large common room and pool tables etc.
And rent is not cheap I’m here to tell you. Though it is inclusive of amenities, phone and internet.

shaneb6:06 pm 22 Sep 10

pollyanna said :

Could this be applied more widely to enhance affordable housing in the ACT?

I don’t think so. The cost of creating the concrete shell of an apartment in a large apartment building is actually pretty small. I suspect the cost of a new shipping container, conversion in a third world country, shipping to Australia, assembling the containers, adding internal insulation and external rendering to make it aesthetically pleasing for anything more than student accommodation, would make it unviable.

The price of the land, rights to build, internal fitout and pther government charges (both to the developer and customer) are the largest cost components.

pollyanna5:28 pm 22 Sep 10

They do look good.

Could this be applied more widely to enhance affordable housing in the ACT?

niftydog1:23 pm 22 Sep 10

And the people in the houses
All go to the university,
And they all get put in boxes,
Little boxes, all the same.

For anyone who’s seen them, how can this just be coincidence?

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