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Remember when you were a little kid and the best part about a big present was the box? Perhaps piggy-backing on that idea is today's concept of shipping container architecture. Buildings of all kinds -- homes, offices, cafes, schools -- are being constructed out of recycled shipping containers. According to David Cross, co-founder of SG blocks, a company specializing in container construction, the energy used to construct a container home is about 95 percent less than the energy used to melt (discard) the container. Yet they're not just for the environmentally conscious! Container homes are typically cheaper and faster to build than traditionally constructed homes. And because they're made from steel, they're also extremely durable.
Scroll through the photo gallery to see some very unique building ideas! Your vacation home may be closer than you think....
To read more at The Daily Green!
Container Architecture
All Terrain Cabin
Canada's Bark Design Collective built the All Terrain Cabin (ATC) as a showcase for sustainable (and Canadian!) ingenuity. The small home is based on a standard shipping container and is said to be suitable for a family of four, plus a pet, to live off the grid in comfort and style.
The cabin folds up to look like any old shipping container and can be sent via rail, truck, ship, airplane or even helicopter. When you're ready to rest your bones, the cabin quickly unfolds to 480 square feet of living space with a range of creature comforts.
Container City II
London's low cost, environmentally-friendly Container City I was a success, and in 2002, Urban Space Management added an addition, dubbed Container City II. Reaching five stories high, Container City II is connected to its earlier iteration via walkways. It also boasts an elevator and full disabled access, as well as 22 studios.
Cove Park Artists' Retreat
Set on 50 acres of gorgeous Scottish countryside, Cove Park is an artist's retreat designed to stimulate and reinvigorate. Urban Space Management first brought in three repurposed shipping containers in 2001, and the center became so popular that more units have been added.
Inside Cove Park
Doesn't look like your average shipping box, does it?
The Riverside Building, London
Offering fantastic views of the Thames for an affordable price, The Riverside Building hosts 22 offices in a modular design. Erected near Container City, the structure took a mere eight days (and 73 containers!).
illy Push Button House
Italian coffee roasters illycafe were inspired by Adam Kalkin's designs, and commissioned him to build the Push Button House. In just 90 seconds, a compact metal container opens into a fully furnished cafe, with functional kitchen, dining room, bathroom, bedroom, living room and even library. Andrea Illy, chairman and CEO of illycaffe, has said the company was interested in Kalkin's ideas of "home as one continuous mouldable surface, a relief against which human activity would pop out."
Jakarta Container Living
It's important to remember that resourceful people have been living in repurposed shipping containers for decades, particularly around ports and along the margins in developing countries. The big metal boxes are dry, fire resistant and quite readily available.
Here, some men make their homes in containers in Jakarta. A community of people have lived in shipping containers for 20 years in Armenia, since the temporary housing set up for them after the devastating 1988 earthquake has never been replaced.
LOT-EK Concept Tower
Constructed by LOT-EK is this fantastic concept for a tower at 87 Lafayette Street in New York City. The idea is for a 19-story artists' loft building, built by stacking containers, with staircases at the north and south ends. The roof of the slanted tower would sport solar panels.
The building in front of the bold new design is an historic New York City firehouse, perhaps serving as a visual tie to the past.
M2ATK Container House
M2ATK designed this hip Container House for an artist. It's fully equipped with heating and cooling, a kitchen, bathroom, communications access and comfortable furniture.
De Maria Design Redondo Beach House
With its modern lines and appealing spaces, the award-winning Redondo Beach House by De Maria Design turns heads. The luxury beachside showpiece was built from eight prefabricated, recycled steel shipping containers, along with some traditional building materials. According to the architects, the modified containers are "nearly indestructible," as well as resistant to mold, fire, and termites. Seventy percent of the building was efficiently assembled in a shop, saving time, money and resources.
One of the containers can even sport a pool! The lessons learned from Redondo Beach House are being incorporated into a line of more affordable, accessible designs, soon available as Logical Homest.
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Reader comments (Page 3 of 3)
I think they still look pretty cool. They are kind of small and pricey, but still a good idea. I dont see why some of you guys have such strong feeling against them.
ReplyTO EACH HIS OWN. WHAT SUITS HIS TASTE IS HIS BUSINESS. CAN'T PUT A MAN DOWN FOR TRYING TO SAVE MONEY THE WAY THING ARE NOW WITH OBAMA IN CHARGE.
ReplyFOR: HaAtThem.
Reply......... These designs are made by proffesionals for the safety of the people who are buying them. The people if to buy the container only. Have no experience in making them into safe homes. Thus that would cause a stir and possible suing over the container company. So hence they have a team of people to make sure these homes are stylish and safe for the consumer......
To begin with, one would not be bringing a law suit to a container company but to whomever built the home from the containers. Please don't attack people. Get your information first and then have a conversation. I left out your offensive verbal assault on me, and others who read, check the sites, look over materials, cost, (which every company will tell you does not include site preparation) you will see this is NOT a practical solution to all these containers sitting around and is NOT a practical solution for the average person. At least not in my book !
Please leave your personal verbal insults/assaults off a public posting board. Sorry, but you are showing your ignorance.
Going through Congress? Have you been on a ship? Using one that is going to be 'scrapped' or put in a 'graveyard' for homeless shelter isn't a bad idea in and of itself. There would be cramped living but at least there would be actual bathrooms (heads) and people could sleep on bunks. I hadn't heard about this, but it might not be a bad idea. Think ahead though. Those homeless people may not want to be in a contained space. There are many homeless people who are not homeless because they lost things but because they WANT TO BE and want to be free of the constraints of civilization. I can assure you these won't be lining up to live aboard a cramped vessel. There is also the waste matter to be considered. Yes, they will have bathrooms and not use the streets, but someone will have to pick up the tab for all waste aboard these 'vessels'. Today, there are still cruise line ships being caught throwing waste (garbage) overboard instead of waiting for their port where they have to pay to have the garbage/waste removed. Sad to say, this results in garbage floating around our oceans, landing on shores/beaches where humans may visit/play/swim as well as landing on 'pristine shores' of islands that are unpopulated except by creatures that are suffering the effects of strangulation/starvation, etc from all the 'garbage' being dumped. Are any of you aware that many birds, particularly sea birds eat just about anything? They think it's food. Their digestive system, once they swallow it realizes it isn't food and if they can't regurgitate it, it remains in their stomachs taking up room. IF the item eaten/swallowed doesn't out right kill them, the build up of many items will eventually cause them to starve to death. Think about this the next time you throw that plastic bottle cap on the ground. Sorry, I got off the subject.
ReplyUsing things over is a great idea, but one must consider the cost involved. Containers, if we could just buy them, design what we wish, insulate, etc. ourselves and make homes, this would be a useful way to recycle, but for the most part, there are so many restrictions/building codes and so forth that the average person can't do this. Did anyone look at the play house shown on this site for 'green' living? It is a novel idea, but practicality is not there. I imagine more money was put into that 'play house' than most people who buy a small, old, run down home to 'fix up'.
Sustainable green is the way we are going to have to start looking at thing. In fact, this is not a new concept. It's been around since the 60's and 70's and I've looked at alternative ways to build/use a home. BUT, it is now 30 - 40 years later and 'green' is still not affordable to the average person. Has anyone wondered why? Governmental restrictions/laws/etc. Too much regulation. This country if it doesn't become socialist before (a horrible thought) is going to regulate itself to death.
Let the people be responsible for themselves. We don't need the government telling us everything we need to do. We don't need them telling us (by law) that we must wear seat belts or helmets. The average person with any brains IS going to wear seat belts and helmets because they KNOW the dangers. If my city officials were to allow it, I have the ability/means to buy a few containers and I could make a nice small home, insulating to save cost, having plumbing and electricity installed by professionals, etc. and I could have a nice home from four containers stacked and remodeled, but my city 'government' is not going to allow me or anyone else to do that.
Okay, I've had enough today. Have a great day everyone. I do the best I can (don't waste/recycle/think about the other person/animal/planet), but I can't do it alone. I can only do my part.
I cannot stand the woman! Or her daughter. I can't think of any way I would support her. I find her arrogance and her uppitiness offending. I find her comments on other people's looks offending. I find her looks offending. I suppose if she were involved in huminatarian or charity works, I might consider it then. I suppose she must do so in some way, have her charities, but I've never known her to do anything that didn't involve money for herself. I'm sure she gets paid even then, when she's raising money for a charity.
ReplyBuilding with containers is worth taking a look at if you are contemplating a new home.
ReplyGood resource is the Residential Shipping Container Primer website. A DO IT YOURSELF (DIY) REFERENCE AND FOR CONVERTING RECYCLED INTERMODAL CARGO SHIPPING CONTAINERS INTO BUILDINGS AND ARCHITECTURE.
Lots of example buildings, details, facts, and links to other articles. They have something new that you can setup your own project wiki to get help with your project if you are considering a design build project.