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Crate expectations: 11 shipping container housing ideas
Shipping containers can be transformed into a variety of innovative homes and hotels.
Thu, Dec 06 2012 at 2:37 PM
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Photo: LOT-EK
I grew up surrounded by containers (my dad's company designed the Kalkinesque warehouse shown above for Northern Canada in the '70s) and always thought the interior dimensions too small, the floors too toxic and the problems of insulating and making them comfortable too challenging, but dozens of architects and shipping container designs have proved me wrong. Let's count the ways.
Single-container units
Photo: atelier
Porta-Bach
A bach is the name given in New Zealand to structures akin to small, often very modest holiday homes or beach houses. They are an iconic part of New Zealand history and culture. Cecile Bonnifait and William Giesen of atelier workshop have built a bach out of a box, a 20-foot shipping container. This isn't easy to do — they're narrow inside. They pulled it off by having one side of the container fold down to open it up to the outdoors. Every inch of it is used cleverly — even the container doors become support for a bed.
Photo: barkbark.ca
All Terrain Cabin
Take an easy-to handle 20-foot ISO container frame. Outfit it with folding walls and the best in Canadian design. According to BARK design collective: "The result is as smart as it is efficient, suitable for a family of four and a pet to live off the grid in comfort and contemporary style. It travels by train, truck, ship, airplane or helicopter, folded up and indistinguishable from any ordinary shipping container. Once it arrives, it unfolds rapidly to 480 square feet of self-contained, sophisticated living space with all the comforts of home."
Photo: ecopods.ca
Ecopods
Dwight Doerkson has developed "an affordable eco friendly building that’s transportable and doesn’t need to be hooked up to the grid" out of shipping containers. He cuts out an entire wall and hinges it, so when you want to leave your ecopod you simply flip a switch and a solar-powered winch pulls up the deck and closes the box.
Photo: Sean Godsell Architects
Future Shack
Aussie architect Sean Godsell's small masterpiece is a refugee housing unit made from a ready-made, reused shipping container. Super-efficient and simple, but made to last and protect, the unit uses a bare minimum of industry materials. Since it's entirely self-contained, a number of units can be shipped together to their destination of need. It's solar powered, too.
Photo: Adam Kalkin
Push-Button House
The Push Button House starts as a shipping container until a button is pushed, at which point motorized walls start to unfold, and it turns into a furnished house. It's not fully functioning, given that there is no roof or walls or plumbing, but it is a good conversation piece.
Multi-container designs
Photo: archello
R4 House
The R4House prototype consists of two bioclimatic homes made from materials that close the loop. The energy consumption of both is zero because of its bioclimatic design, the solar panels and the geothermal energy source. The waste production during construction is also zero. Both homes are modular and built from six recycled shipping containers.
Photo: Habode
Habode
The Habode is not strictly speaking a container home, but is built to be handled like a container and then busts out of the dimensional limitations of the traditional steel box.
Photo: Petraalsback/Flickr
Ross Stevens House
This wall of containers built against a hill in Wellington, New Zealand, was designed by Ross Stevens. It uses the spaces between the containers and the hill to expand its living space beyond that limiting interior dimensions of a standard ISO box.
Photo: Phooey Architects
Phooey Fun House
Now, even more recycled fun can be had in Melbourne-based Phooey Architects’ shipping container playground. It revamps four shipping containers and other reclaimed materials into an attractive yet functional activity center, designed to provide kids living in South Melbourne’s public housing with safe spaces to dance, play and create art.
Multifamly high-density container projects
Photo: Travelodge
Pop-up hotel
Travelodge is looking seriously at prefab hotels and has built its first in the west London district of Uxbridge.
Photo: Steven Flum
Container Condo
The construction on Exceptional Green Living on Rosa Parks, a 20-unit multifamily housing project composed of 93 retired shipping containers, will commence early next year in midtown Detroit.
This story was originally written for Treehugger. Copyright 2008.
Related on MNN: 8 eye-catching shipping container homes
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I wanted to ask you if you knew how well the insulation on the refrigerated [plastic-foam I think] shipping containers worked. Ultimately I'd love to build a little complex using them since they are relatively cheap and easy to renovate, but I don't know the range of climates they would be suitable for while only passively heating or cooling it [trellises, shade structures, stone patio to hold the heat, etc.] Thank you!
I like container homes. Shipping containers are perfect for building. Despite the simplicity of the forms, containers can be combined in a million different designs. And a completed container house can be transported to a place where it can be difficult to build,
fabulocity. i'm trying to put together a program for emergency and low cost options for the homeless here in DC. Just to see how it works. Of course not just for low income but a type of rent controlled housing in the city that is also eco friendly where rents would not exceed 450.00 per month all utilities included. apts. that would not take more that 35, 000.00 dollars each to build. That is pure fabulocity. like student housing in amsterdam, holland.
This company has been providing effective and comfortable accommodations at events, especially when the event is in a remote, hotel-free location. Goodwood uses them on the grounds at the Festival of Speed and at the Revival:
http://www.mysnoozebox.com/home/index.html#welcome
Great to see such good work. I have created a shipping container home and I drew it in 3D with instructions of how I did it. I won several sustainable design awards and have 200 thousand plus hits on you tube. I thought you may like to see the model and expand upon it. I look forward to seeing your response. You may like to download it for free on www.rubysketch.com
I love the R4House. That's definitely taking this concept to the nth degree. I'm always surprised how many people still think shipping containers are not "real homes". It's not hard to find dozens of really superb examples from tiny to huge as you've done here. Great post!
Love the shipping container and prefab homes. Particularly like the idea for small foot print vacation homes that can be built with minimal impact on the land and can be closed and locked up when vacation is over like the Surf Shack:http://www.urbansherp.com/ship...