Sustainable shipping container style home in the Bay of Fires

When a Dutch couple set out to build their dream beach shack on Tasmania’s wild east coast, they had a clear vision: something simple, sustainable and low-maintenance—but with a front-row seat to nature. They turned to architect Daniel Haskell of Haskell Architects to bring it to life. The brief? Design a functional, affordable getaway that could soak up the stunning views, handle the elements, and hold its own while they were back home in the Netherlands. Their ideal was that the house be lightweight enough that you could just lift it up and carry it away, leaving nothing behind.

Daniel nailed the brief with a design that’s both clever and understated – designing a shipping container style home that’s perched lightly above the sloping site on slender steel posts, the shack barely touching the earth. From the outside, it’s a clean, rectangular form that echoes a shipping container, clad in tough, practical materials like corrugated Zincalume steel and warm cedar. The steel keeps things durable and low-maintenance, while the cedar breaks up the façade and adds a softer touch around the windows. Left to weather naturally, the cedar will fade to a silvery grey over time—except for the windows, which are stained for contrast. Facing the ocean, the windows are made from aluminium, ready to take on the wild coastal weather without fuss.

Inside, big windows frame sweeping views of the Bay of Fires in one direction and bushland in the other. The remote setting meant building with locally available or easy-to-transport materials, but that didn’t stop the owners from adding a few sleek European fixtures for a touch of luxury. When it’s time to head back to the Netherlands, they can lock up and leave, knowing their beach shack will stand strong, quietly blending into the landscape until they return.