The container houses are made of steel and designed for all-weather use, compact in disassembled form and designed for long sea transport and travel.
Such a house has no problem serving you for about 30 years, but many shipping companies use them for a much shorter period before writing them off. Typically, the stated shelf life for a container house is 10 years, or less. For this reason, about 30 million unwanted container houses stand idle.
Such a house in pretty decent condition can be purchased for a very reasonable amount.
Typical container home designs
The standard container home is typically 2.44 meters wide, 1.83 meters high, and 6.1 to 12.2 meters long. There is one more variant (such, however, will be more difficult to find, but the ceiling height in it is higher) – it is also called a container of large cubic capacity or a high container. It is 12.2 meters long and 2.85 meters high.
MRTN Architects put a lot of effort into the project. Now this –s the perfect living space for a comfortable vacation in nature, away from the city noise and crowds. Its main feature – a unique water collection system on the roof.
“Viña del Mar Apartments, Chile
The company “James and Mau” is well known for its innovative projects of container houses. The design of this residential building is located on a relief hillside and overlooks Viña del Mar and the sea coast.
Each living space has a separate outdoor terrace and stylized individual shipping containers that are integral components of the floor plan of the building.
“Container Guest House, Texas
This 399,5 m² house with workshop is made of 8 containers. María José Trejos’s creation was designed in a very special way: the designer, in an effort to maximize the air and light inside the house, included a lot of windows and glass panels in the roof (thanks to these solutions, the amount of electricity used can be drastically reduced).
“Maison Conteneur, Canada
A project from the studio “Collections Dubreuil” makes special, first of all, its unusual exterior. The walls of corrugated steel, typical of the cargo container, eloquently remind about the history of the living structure, but it does not prevent her to remain no less comfortable than standard houses.
Debbie Glasberg claims to have the ability to see home even where others only see a container. For this project, she needed five containers. Home Contained has 241.5 m2 of living space finished with the latest in retro and modern interior design.
The project includes a number of eco solutions such as a space heating system using geothermal heat, plant-based insulation materials, solar panels and ecological roofing.
“Art Studio, New York
The minimalist project Art Studio was created by Maziar Beiruz at the request of a client who wanted an art studio, but was willing to spend no more than $60,000 to build it. It consists of two 12.2 m long containers at a cost of $2,500 each. The total area of the new, bright and spacious duplex studio is now 78 m2.
“Caterpillar House, Chile
This container home was built from two containers, with a construction budget of $40,000. There’s now enough room (92.9 m2) for the family of Benjamin Garcia Seix, who asked for this project. Architect hopes that such housing projects will gain widespread recognition throughout the world in the future.
Have you decided what your future container home will be??
These 15 unique container house projects sound intriguing! I’d love to know more about the creative designs and innovative uses of containers in creating these homes. Are there any standout features or sustainability elements incorporated? Also, how do these container houses compare in terms of cost, functionality, and overall livability as compared to traditional homes?