Why are we showing you a photo of nice house? Well, because this house was once little more than a series of those large, metal shipping containers. Really.
There are 18 million shipping containers in use world-wide. Couple that with the US trade imbalance (we import more than we export) and that equals roughly 700,000 disposable containers sitting at US ports gathering dust. Not all of them, it seems.
SG Blocks Corporation is taking architectural advantage of what they think is a great, sustainable, building material. The result? An extremely strong, modular, building block. It makes sense to repurpose these containers as it takes 95% less energy to turn these into homes and buildings than it is to recycle the steel in them. It also makes sense to use this as building material in areas that are hurricane and earthquake prone.
To see just how amazing some of the uses old shipping containers are being put to, jump to the main article for some great shots.
There are 18 million shipping containers in use world-wide. Couple that with the US trade imbalance (we import more than we export) and that equals roughly 700,000 disposable containers sitting at US ports gathering dust. Not all of them, it seems.
SG Blocks Corporation is taking architectural advantage of what they think is a great, sustainable, building material. The result? An extremely strong, modular, building block. It makes sense to repurpose these containers as it takes 95% less energy to turn these into homes and buildings than it is to recycle the steel in them. It also makes sense to use this as building material in areas that are hurricane and earthquake prone.
To see just how amazing some of the uses old shipping containers are being put to, jump to the main article for some great shots.
Below you can see that cool house above being built.
It costs about the same to build a home using storage containers but in half the time. Some have wondered about heat buildup in a house that’s essentially a metal box. There may also be electromagnetic issues for some. Watch the video here as it addresses some of these issues. They are not a problem.
Because of the extreme strength of these structures, it can easily support the weight of a green roof, another sustainable advantage. Some prefer the industrial look and feel of the containers and strive to let it make its own architectural statement. Others prefer that it be concealed. Either way, this stuff seems to make a lot of sense.
Would I build and live in one? Absolutely! Check out some more cool container homes below.
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As of ‘06 I heard Toyota made 1% of their annual revenue through building container homes/condos. Not sure if anyone has dug up the #’s on this (I assumed that was only their revenue within Japan, not internationally), but I was impressed back then at the prospect of making homes so efficiently, and the implications that Toyota was so heavily involved in their development.
In the meantime, I’ll add that I could tolerate such a contemporary home for about three days, maybe four. Then I’d likely figure out some sort of conveniently catastrophic accident that would allow me to build a real home (brick & mortar, not container-twittery-urban-cough) after filing a hefty insurance claim. Seriously.
Your collective ignorance is only matched by your collectively complete incompetence. People need to get out of their heads what they think constitutes a “normal” house. That’s what Frank Lloyd Wright did. Perhaps at the time technology didn’t catch up to his brilliance, but today there is such a rich variety of what people call “home” that functions as well as it looks. This resourceful, innovative thinking transforms many urban landscapes from milk-toast to magnificent!
I agree that container homes are not for everybody but they do have a place, a “green” place”, in society.
No more narrow-minded squabbling, please! I hate your whining! Get a life – or a container home. It may add some zest to your otherwise dull, boring, unimaginative existence!
The issue of condensation is taken care of by special coatings sprayed on the metal. Interior walls also have moisture controlling surfaces. Besides, as shipping containers, these units have to keep their cargo environmentally safe from the rigors of ocean travel.
Do your homework!
It seems to me that Henry Ford used the cartons in which parts were shipped to him for building his cars. In any case, we must get very serious about reusing and repurposing as much as possible in as many ways as possible. The concept of throwing something away becomes less workable with each passing day. There is no such place as away.
Over the last couple of days, I have seen pictures of other houses made with recycled castoffs from houses that have been demolished, and even other found objects. As much as I admire the imagination and creativity, I’m not sure I’d enjoy living in anything so eccentric looking. I love the look of these container houses. I love the energy savings from not melting them down, too.
I’ve seen a few of these homes before, on HGTV and online in articles.
I like traditional looks, but I also SO want to build a container house to my specifications someday! They’d be perfect for a square donut house with a garden in the middle, and glass walls looking into the garden from all sides.
I’m not sure where I first saw this style of home, but it was built to look ultra modern and I loved it. And the cost is extremely competitive.
I’d live in one anyday, but I need to purchase a lovely piece of land to put it on.
Mine wouldn’t necessarily be made to look ultra modern, but it’d be fun to make a home out of a few containers.
It’s not nescient.
I agree along with what each person has considered, the pretty important thing is to look at the idea from a various view (as I can almost all of the time). Other than that, you have received a pretty excellent website here, maintain up the good work.
I’d love to do this, but wouldn’t paying someone to help you pretty much cost the same or more as getting a spec home? dang- I guess I better go to school to become an architect..or an engineer. bleh.
I believe there are companies that specialize in this type of home construction.
It sure is good to get a little additional expertise when renovating (or thinking about it). If you want some really good tips, I also highly recommend checking Masterrenovator.com, the guy has awesome info on things that can help a lot.
My father left me 20 acres of what was once 90 acres.Now I have the deed “in hand” I’m ready to do something,twenty years late.I dismissed the containers even though they are very cool cause I want to keep my property as is[a wooded mountain side in Va.] Don’t want to cut trees to make room for a crane to swing a load into place. But…It makes sence to build with these more and more.I’m a welder and pipefitter.I could do anything I want with a tourch and welder.
BUT…still,I have to get them there. Anybody?
Gary
They can be delivered via helicopter no need for the crane.
[...] o edificios realizados reutilizando contenedores o containers de 20 pies. Podéis ver ejemplos en Thinking Outside The Container o en 10 (More) Awesome Architectural Shipping Container Designs: From Loft Spaces to Emergency [...]
Hi, I live on Rarotonga, in the Cook Islands – situated in the Pasific Islands.
A friend of mine recently acquired a container and started turning it into a little batch. A lot of the locals here laughed and criticised him. After a couple of beers one night, I asked him – what made him decide to build a house using a container and he replied “I think this will save me heaps of cash” Eventually our conversation resulted in the following:
So far with his decking built in front of his container, he’s paid only $6,000 (yep 6 grand), he tells me, he only needs another $4,000 (4 grand) to finish off the interior of his container. It’s a far cry from spending $128,000 to build a house and you still are never satisfied with the work the builders do.
He has his power and water all done, but hopefully he can put solar panels on top of the container so he can rely on this for his power instead of paying excessive power bills etc.
He can always move his container from one section of his to another when the mood suits him – so no complaints about the “sun shining in my eyes”.
It’s heavy and very sturdy – it’s already been through one cyclone (category 3) without a scratch and the best part of it is – he doesn’t have massive loans like all others who critised him.
After his success people are now thinking along the same lines as his… I think container houses will be the future economy and also its the best idea of recycling all those empty containers.
Hi Francis: Do you have any photos of your friend’s container home?
[...] Overlooking the site of the London 2012 Olympics, the new View Tube café is not what you’d normally expect from your local coffee shop. In fact, there are probably very few coffee shops built from old shipping containers and, if there are, they probably don’t look quite as cool as this one. We like cargotecture for a number of reasons and you can find a number of excellent and innovative examples in our previous blog ‘Thinking Outside The Container’. [...]
I’m so impressed with the whole concept that we (my wife & I) are building a 45 square home out of 17 x 40′ hi-cube’s. It will cost about half the normal cost of a home and the best thing of all … because it is, in my area, classed as “temporary accommodation” you don’t need any council approval.
We will be building it on 100 acres of land so I must admit I don’t have any neighbours to complain to any one any way.
Should also add that we live in rural new South Wales, Australia