CONTAINED, AUSTRALIA
These luxurious boutique pop-up hotels allow guests to immerse themselves in Victoria’s wine regions, while enjoying local produce and curated experiences and to top it all, sleeping amongst the pinot noir, chardonnay, prosecco, shiraz and muscat grape vines.
Designed by Future Cities, refurbished shipping containers are used as a base that is designed and engineered to be an eco-luxury pop-up hotel room. Interior design features include timber flooring, Porter’s French wash paint finish to walls and ceilings, fully tiled bathrooms and a super large walk in shower, Phillip Jeffreys wallpaper, copper or concrete sinks, matt black bathroom fittings, custom joinery and vintage light fittings with LED Edisson lighting. The pop hotel is off grid with a solar power generator, includes a hot tub, electric BMW i3 and VR in-room entertainment.
The Box Hotels refurbish discarded industrial excess into imaginative constructions made entirely out of high-grade, upcycled materials. Surplus cargo containers and pallet wood thrown away by the shipping, construction and manufacturing businesses account for a sizeable portion of wasted natural resources whose abandonment and decay may further damage the environment. Instead, The Box Hotels salvage and redesign scrap components to compose everything from a property’s mainframe architecture to its most minute decorative details.
The Beach Box in Baga, Goa was launched in September 2017 and sits on the quiet end of a bridge that stretches between Baga’s crowded streets and surprisingly quaint corners. Painted cardinal red and overlaid with original artwork, these metal vessels are converted into 15 bedrooms, an in-ground swimming pool, bar and upper-deck restaurant.
Constructed out of two used 40 ft shipping containers and joined side by side lengthwise to create a 60 sq meter space inside, Copia Eco Cabins was borne from an idea that started three years ago. “I became obsessed with used shipping container conversions and the endless possibilities all while doing my little bit to recycle,” says Lucas Steyn, owner of Copia Eco Cabins.
The results are three solar-powered and completely self-sufficient structures, with recycled mineral wool to insulate the containers, ensuring comfort levels in both summer and winter. With a Scandinavian décor and very minimalistic interior finishes, the focus is all about the amazing views. “I highly recommend the woodfired hot tub,” Lucas concludes. “And if you enjoy a BBQ, we have the facilities too.”
Born from pure wanderlust, an inherent obligation to recycle and a constant need to create, owner Matt White and his crew from Recycling the Past have created an amazing new lodging concept in Round Top, Texas.
Reclaimed artifacts acquired from Matt’s travels across the globe adorn each ‘Houze’, making the décor truly one of a kind. This place is unique to say the least; they keep the funky vibe going with cabinet bases from an FDA laboratory in Brooklyn and countertops from an old bowling alley in Texas. The floors are original to the containers, which have traveled the world many times over. At Flophouze, they don’t have TV’s. Instead their ‘Houzes’ come equipped with record players, handpicked vinyl collections, a stack of books and old songs for the soul.
Hideaway Litchfield started at least four years ago as the brainchild of Roger and Vivienne Latham. Tossing around with many ideas, from refitted transportable buildings to imported kits, nothing seemed quite right until the end result was a 40-foot container cut in half on the angle.
The bedroom half was rolled on its side, making the timber floor into a feature wall. Cabin 1 is a ground floor option, perfect for younger families, with a second floor in Cabin 2. The cabins are situated 80 meters apart and the design and build were conceptualized by the owner’s son, Simeon. “Though the concept was planned out before we started,” says Simeon, “there was a lot of designing on the fly and I didn’t actually develop a floor plan until after construction.”
Now a luxurious boutique hotel in Freo’s vibrant West End, The Hougoumont has historically welcomed weary travelers throughout the centuries. “The lucent, minimalist designed and modern hotel it is today is redefining quality travel,” says Patrick Prendiville, Hougoumont Hotel’s owner. “It makes it less about simply passing through places but more about connecting with a place and the people that make it.”
The hotel reflects this notion throughout, while re-telling the story of Fremantle’s historic buildings and working port in its design choices. The Hougoumont’s ultimate architectural goal was to transport guests through passages in time – past, present and future. Standing proud today, the façade is heritage-laced, married with a dynamic blend of colors and materials and modernistic artwork by Troy Barbitta, shipping container ‘cargotecture’ and costum-designed furniture from award-winning designer Yoshio Takagi.
Riverstone’s FamTin offers modern and trendy accommodation for 4, in 2 en-suite rooms. If you’re looking for an escape from the City, to a fabulous farm stay in quirky and contemporary accommodation, FamTin is exactly what you need.
Completed in 2018, an eco-build double container conversion, Riverstone’s FamTin is fully equipped for a great self-catering stay. Guests will find inside and outside dining spaces and lounge areas, a deep covered patio with a built in BBQ, and an economical and efficient wood burning stove inside the central space. Cozy in winter, and with fans throughout to keep cool in summer. FamTin is situated on the farm dam edge, which is perfect for swimming. With uninterrupted views of the gorgeous Mostertshoek Mountains, expect a gorgeous pink or orange sunset every evening.
“I’m extremely delighted to share Tiny Urban Escapes with you!” says Robin Staten, owner of Tiny Urban Escapes. “Consider it your private space to seek lost sleep, enjoy sinfully lazy Sundays, live life a little slower or simply unplug and de-stress.
Creating a unique hospitality experience that is both innovative and out of the box, Tiny Urban Escapes makes use of upcycled shipping containers. The modular architecture allows guests to completely immerse themselves into the host site’s natural surroundings. The standalone individual suites are the perfect marriage of industrial steel of the container and glass, which is a beautiful, invigorating and romantic material. Incorporating high-end materials and fixtures including black porcelain tile, marble, and brass, Tiny Urban Escapes highlights the intersection of minimalism and luxury.
All pens aren’t created equal. With a history spanning more than 250 years, Graf von Faber-Castell the German stationery manufacturer Faber-Castell has produced a line of pencils and pens. These high-end writing instruments are made with luxury materials which see all the Classic, Intuition and Guilloche series being made with luxury materials such as ebony, resin and ivory.
Since 2003, Graf von Faber-Castell has produced a line of limited-edition fountain pens, which have become synonymous with luxurious writing culture and the finest craftsmanship, named the “Pen of the Year”. Inspired by the heroes of Sparta, each has a nib of 18 carat bicolor gold with a barrel of exotic materials, creating an indomitable aura, elegant strength and showing superior aesthetics.
The Pen of the Year 2020 was created in the style of the blacksmith’s art of the times of King Leonidas, who used this process to yield armor, swords and shields. The proud heroes of ancient Greece, the brave and elite Spartans valued pride, honor and loyalty, all conveyed into the creation of the Pen of the Year.
Embodying durability, endurance and aesthetics the pen features a milled pattern on the barrel reminiscent of the strip-style armor worn in the abdomen region of these brave warriors. The barrel is adorned with premium diamonds set by hand and a total of seven rough diamonds adding up to 0.35 carats on its barrel are symbolic of the robustness and uniqueness of the bold Spartans. With strict precision, the uncut diamonds on the barrel embody the Greek values of pride, perseverance and dignity. The spring-loaded clip on the cap is based on the Greek ridge helmet, a signature piece of defense with a powerful shape of a horse’s neck. The Spartan’s large, round shields were emblazoned with lambda – the eleventh letter in the Greek alphabet and shorthand for the Lacedaemonians – the historical name of the Spartan state – inspired the lacquered inlay in the end cap which also features the lambda.
The exclusive Black Edition of the Pen of the Year 2020 features further brings the myth of Sparta and its heroes to life with its 18-carat gold nib for precise writing pleasure. Limited to 80 rollerball pens and 270 fountain pens, the barrel is made from titanium and decorated with 42 uncut diamonds of 2.1 carats in seven rows of six diamonds each.
Each pen comes in a high gloss black wooden case with a certificate signed by Count Charles von Faber-Castell attesting to the authenticity of the limited edition.