In happening upon any large container shipping port, you will discover piles upon piles of discarded containers. Hundreds of containers are discarded every year due to stringent quality and safety regulations on account of the shipping industry. The containers themselves cannot be recycled economically, which accounts for the piles of rusting containers. These containers can serve a greater purpose: affordable, high quality housing.
Steel shipping containers are the building blocks of container homes and structures. Shipping containers are made to be stacked, fully laden, up to nine stories high. The standard sizes used for building homes are 20 foot and 40 foot containers. These containers are then joined and stacked to form larger areas and enclosed spaces. This flexibility allows for great design potential (1).
There are many benefits to building with shipping containers. For one, they offer incredible structural strength for a fraction of the cost of timber steel or concrete constructions. In addition, due to the fact that all the strength is contained in the structural elements themselves, the foundation design turns out to be simpler and less expensive. With such cost savings, one can put more money into exterior and interior design and finishing (1).
Another benefit is that shipping containers represent a small footprint on the land to which construction is taking place, without compromising the size of the living area. This technique is ideal for multi-story dwellings or office space. Furthermore, shipping containers provide unlimited potential for overcoming design problems posed by building on difficult sites (1).
Quality is another huge benefit to building with shipping containers. For example, a factory allows a much higher level of quality control, while automating parts of the building process with equipment that would not be available on any job site. Also the steel walls of the containers are far superior to any other material for shipping to job sites (2).
Again, the affordability of this building technique should be stressed. Due to the efficient manufacturing process of this product, there are less labor costs. Additionally, there is a lack of job site risks like theft, fewer mistakes, less waste of materials and less travel to the job site which all combine to lower the overall construction cost (2).
The fact that a home built out of shipping containers can be ready in no time is also a big benefit for many. Any prefabricated home takes significantly less time to build. This translates into less time you have to worry about weather during construction as well as less time to bridge in terms of budget and financing (2).
It is a common misconception that prefabricated homes don’t comply with building codes and restrictions. However, most prefab homes conform right off the bat to federal green building and EPA standards as well as being Energy Star compliant (2).
Another miss conception is that a built home from shipping containers is of low value. However, even though the cost is less to build with containers than with ‘stick’, the value is at least the same. Container houses are often even valued higher due to the quality (for both sales and financial purposes) (2).
A perfect example of the potential of shipping containers can be found in the work of the award winning architect Nicholas Lacey who joined forces with ContainerSpace Ltd and Partners and engineers Buro Happold to build container apartments in the City of Rochester, Kent. The apartment flats are ideal because their construction will take place in a matter of days from when the containers are shipped on site. Furthermore, like so many places around the world, US included, there is a desperate need for affordable housing, and this is exactly what shipping containers offer- cheap, efficient, sustainable-minded housing. The apartments will be two bedroom and the flats will be three and four story high with green roofs to enhance the ecological design. The exterior and interiors will be clad with timber to disguise the origin of the material. However, a similar project in Leaside, London left tenants completely satisfied and as the Leaside Regeneration’s development director Phil Smith noted, “Tenants might at first think they’re getting some kind of portakabin, but when they see them they love them. These are funky, fun, unusual buildings. You certainly wouldn’t know you were in a container” (3).
Building with containers requires some revision and practical design. The new home function of the container calls for sides and ends to be cut away, holes to be drilled for windows and doors and so on. This naturally weakens the container, though Lacey designs and has fitted structural supports, pillars, gussets and lintels in order to restore the strength to the box shape. Lacey uses 100% recycled containers, parts included (3).
Building with shipping containers offers a real, tangible green alternative to conventional construction methods. Coupled with ease of construction and low cost, these containers represent a truly sustainable living option without being out of reach to those that need shelter the most.
Please check out our links to more information in regards to building with metal shipping containers at:
1. Addis Containers, http://www.containerarchitecture.co.nz/
2. Modern Modular, http://www.modern-modular.com/
3. The Move Channel, http://www.themovechannel.com/sitefeatures/viewpoints/ecological11.asp