Shipping Containers as mainstream homes?

Housing is the biggest challenge out there. Solve it and you solve the global emissions, the way cities are designed and how we live our lives. One of the many growing solutions out there is shipping container homes. They are stackable, reusable, modular and mainly much cheaper than current building costs. For a high quality build with a shipping container you will spend around 1000 to 1300 euro per square meter, compared to a starting price of 1700 euro per sqm for a conventional build, reaching 2500 euro for high-quality build.

And now they are starting also to be amazingly beautiful, modern and slick.

Take for example the apartment complex made from recycled shipping containers, which is currently being built in downtown Phoenix, Arizona. It was designed by the architecture firm StarkJames LLC with a primary reason of providing affordable and sustainable housing near the city’s busy downtown area. The complex is called Containers on Grand and is located at 12th Avenue and Grand Avenue, in Phoenix. A total of 16 decommissioned shipping containers will be used to build eight apartment units. Each of the apartments will be made of 2 recycled shipping containers, yielding 74 square meters per apartment.

The architects will keep the floor plan open and modern, while at the same time celebrating the fact that shipping containers were used to build these homes. The apartments will all be one-bedroom units. A kitchen island will be located in the middle of each apartment, with a large living area on one side of it and the bedroom and bathroom on the other. To achieve adequate space, one of the longer sides of each container will be cut away and two containers will then be welded together to form a single apartment.

There are many great example of shipping container architecture done right. One of the latest container homes that got serious exposure was built by Irish architect and farmer Patrick Bradley. The home is located in a rural area of Northern Ireland, where his new home is by far the most modern one around. The home is designed in a very innovative and modern fashion, and is cantilevered over a stream. Little on the outside of the structure reveals that that home is actually built out of shipping containers. The ground floor is clad in wood paneling, while the first floor has metal cladding. Due to the innovative placement of the containers, the home also features two patios, one on the ground floor, and the other on the first floor, which is accessible via an outdoor staircase. This super luxurious build cost Bradley 1400 euro per square meter but achieved remarkable modern feel and comfort.

You can watch Bradley build his home here:
http://www.dailymotion.com/video/x2a2lf6_grand-designs-s14e04_creation