A container transformed into a high-spec tiny home was sold recently with proceeds going to cancer charity Look Good Feel Better.
More than 100 people attended the Hawke’s Bay auction, with intense bidding reaching $117,500.
The 12-metre transportation unit, dubbed “Life Box”, was completely renovated by architectural design company Architecture & Interiors, as a professional development exercise.
However, Architecture & Interiors founder Melissa Burne wanted the home to have a heart, and chose Look Good Feel Better as the recipient of the profits from its sale.
The home would normally have cost $127,000 to replicate. Ms Burne sought the help of industries in the community, reducing expenses to almost half that.
Look Good Feel Better will receive several thousand dollars once build costs and sales fees are deducted.
“It’s been an intense 14 months,” Ms Burne says.
“We’ve learnt so much about what is involved in turning a container into a liveable space. But most importantly we will be able to help people undergoing cancer treatment have a makeover themselves, making the massive project totally worth it,” she says.
Hundreds of people visited open homes for the Life Box, a fully-furnished one-bedroom home, with open-plan lounge and full kitchen, bathroom, laundry/storage room, central vacuum system and built-in wardrobe.
It features large sliding doors and louvres down one side of the house, has a new membrane roof, and meets the New Zealand Building Code.
A highlight for Ms Burne was seeing four women enjoy a Look Good Feel Better class at the Life Box in the lead-up to the auction, making the hours of work all worthwhile.
“I was blown away by the people who volunteer for Look Good Feel Better, and to see the difference a class can make to people undergoing treatment. I am stoked that we have been able to do this for such an incredible charity.”
Look Good Feel Better general manager Clare O’Higgins attended the auction, and says she was grateful to Ms Burne and all those who donated products and time to create the Life Box.
“We feel very fortunate to have the community support our community classes with generosity on such a grand scale. This money will help us provide free classes to anyone with any cancer at any stage.
“The Life Box has brought Hawke’s Bay together, and our classes do that too — they provide a way to come together, relax and be nurtured,” Ms O’Higgins says.
