District Home Magazine Fall II October 2014 | Page 21

SeaUA is the first sea container housing project in the
nation’s capital, Washington DC. The 18 sea containers
were marketed to millennials abutting the Catholic
University of America (CUA) at the Brookland Metro stop. A
second similar project in the vicinity is also envisioned. The
housing units are all sustainable engineered wood interiors
using high performance energy conservation designs.
epurposing sea containers has been proliferating globally
for years, however today with over 700,000 fallow sea
containers alone in the US, their reuse is not only an
ecological necessity, but one that will be putting the US
construction industry back to work locally. As important is
the private entrepreneurship of recent local CUA graduates, Matt Grace &
Sean Joiner, to finance, design, and envision these endeavors without taxing
government. Kelly Davies, project architect at TPA, also a CUA graduate has
guided the project from concept to completion and has generated the DC
Government’s terrific support for the sea container initiative.

R

Breaking more ground on the groundswell
of a new modernism for DC was the
design mission. The distinctive modern
design movement from Ikea, to million
dollar condos, to single homes and
commercial buildings is now finding its way
to a profoundly less costly market with the
SeaUA project.
SeaUA uses additional modernist traits
besides the water tight steel sea containers.
The transparent polygal stair coverings
Matt Grace and Sean Joiner
as well as eco engineered walkways and
balconies are fully sustainable. Every effort has been made to evolve
these units into ultra-low energy consumption. The design directive is to
demonstrate a highly efficient, humanely warm, and modern lower cost
housing option. Besides custom luxury homes, future plans range from a
floating Sea Container apartment complex for millennials on the Po ѽ