Photo: Daniel Hennessy

Richard Carlson was a Los Angeles developer who wanted to build a new home on the East Los Angeles industrial area where his family’s construction business used to store salvaged equipment and materials.

The decision to build with reclaimed materials came from Carlson. It was an opportunity to reduce cost, but more importantly, Carlson saw great richness in the materials lying around on-site and in the surrounding industrial neighborhood: “it just made sense to build with what’s here.”

A dynamic collaboration between Jennifer Siegal’s Office of Mobile Design, the architect, and Carlson (who acted as the general contractor) led to innovative applications of reused materials. The home is comprised of four reused shipping containers, each of which contains a different program (one as the living room, one as the dining room and office, one as a bathroom and laundry area, and one as the master bedroom). Other reclaimed materials include salvaged douglas fir cross-beams which support the roof.  In total, the architect estimates that nearly 90% of the building’s materials are reclaimed.

Reclaimed Materials (by application): Wood/Lumber, Metals

Key Info
Location: Los Angeles, CA
Date of Completion: 2004
Architect: Jennifer Siegal/Office of Mobile Design
Client: Richard Carlson
Contractor: Richard Carlson

Learn More
Office of Mobile Design Project Page