Accommodation design

An ExoSett dwelling may occupy one accommodation module or extend across multiple modules and frame cells. Spaces can be arranged according to their purpose; the building system does not require each cell to contain a self-contained dwelling.

The external dimensions of an ISO 668 1CCC 20-foot High Cube container are used in current ExoSett material as a useful engineering reference envelope. They are not a universal accommodation-module or dwelling standard, and a purpose-built accommodation module is not a converted shipping container.

Module dimensions remain a design choice. Nevertheless, an accommodation module intended to function as a cassette must be manufactured, transported, installed, removed and handled. Its dimensions, mass, structure and interfaces must make those operations reasonably manageable.

These considerations should inform a project’s module strategy without being mistaken for a fixed ExoSett dimensional rule. A larger dwelling can use several suitably designed modules rather than forcing all accommodation into one transportable volume.

Dwelling size and quality should respond to intended occupants and to relevant architectural, accessibility, regulatory and environmental requirements. Considerations include:

• appropriate space and layout;
• inclusive access and use;
• daylight, outlook and ventilation;
• thermal comfort;
• privacy and acoustic conditions;
• adequate storage;
• relationships to circulation, communal rooms and shared outdoor space.

These are principles for project design, not standards that ExoSett has already established. Architects and building designers remain responsible for turning system components into coherent, safe and dignified places to live.

Modular construction must not justify reduced space, comfort, accessibility, safety, privacy, amenity, durability or dignity. The same principle applies whether accommodation is described as temporary or permanent.

Engineering dimensions describe a module that can be manufactured, transported and handled. They are not themselves a housing standard. The quality of a home must be established through architectural design for its occupants, purpose and context.

A home should be designed for genuine domestic life rather than treated as a pristine reusable product. Reasonable personalisation, wear, repair and renewal are normal parts of its lifecycle, subject to appropriate structural, fire-safety, service and tenancy constraints.

If a module is removed for another deployment, inspection and refurbishment can repair damage, renew worn or heavily personalised finishes, update services and prepare it for its next use. Reuse should not require a resident to preserve their home as transport equipment, or require the next resident to inherit worn accommodation. These are design principles; ExoSett has not yet developed detailed refurbishment standards.

Accommodation quality depends on the relationships between dwellings, structure, services, façades, circulation, shared facilities and surroundings. Modularity is a means of organising construction and change, not an architectural outcome in itself.

The construction system need not determine the architectural identity of the building. Architectural expression can respond to a particular use and place while respecting structural, fire-safety, access, environmental and cassette-handling constraints.

The location of accommodation also shapes daily life. Research into modular housing and homelessness provides a useful warning against equating small modular units or rapid installation with good housing.

Return to Design or explore the ExoSett components.