Tuesday, February 4, 2014

Astonishing shipping container homes

We are on the verge of a housing shortage, and it is becoming increasingly difficult for young people to get on the housing ladder because even a small home costs a lot of money. Many developers have experimented with prefab housing, but those experiments have failed to take off because the homes were low quality, and still not affordable enough for first time buyers. Could shipping container homes be the answer?



1. The WFH House - Wuxi, China



Arcgency, an architecture firm from Copenhagen, designed this WFH House, which is the ultimate green property. The house is made from three stacked shipping containers and has been clad with sustainable bamboo. The design is rounded off with permeable paving, solar cells on the roof, and a rainwater collection system.









2. The Sleeping Around B&B (Portable!)



This creatively named portable hotel is owned by a Belgium-based company. At the time of writing, the hotel is located in Antwerp, but it moves regularly. The B&B is made of six container units, four of which are used as bedrooms, with the others serving as a lounge/breakfast area and a sauna.




3. The De Maria Beach House


This stylish, modern Redondo Beach House was created by De Maria Design. The Redondo Beach House is a luxury property made from eight prefabricated shipping containers, although the designer did use some traditional construction materials too. The  house features everything you would expect from a luxury property, including a pool! According to the builders, the shipping containers are almost completely indestructible, and are resistant to fire, termites and mold.






4. The All Terrain Cabin, Canada


The All Terrain Cabin was built by the Bark Design Collective. The project was intended as a showcase for sustainable building, and it is quite an impressive project. Capable of hosting a family of four plus a household pet, the cabin is portable, assembles quickly, and offers 480 square feet of living space. It is designed to provide a full range of home comforts and allow off-grid living.




5. Mr Wu's Container House - Taiwan


Most of the other properties on this list are one-off properties created by well-off designers or big companies, but there are real people living in shipping containers too. Mr Wu is one of many villagers living on Dragon Mountain in a rural part of Taiwan. He lives out of a shipping container, and makes a living maintaining a tobacco patch. His rusty shipping container may not look impressive from the outside, but he reclaimed and converted it himself, and his adventures are chronicled online.





6. YMCA's Affordable Housing Project in London


The YMCA has received planning permission to run two affordable housing projects in Waltham Forest, London. The project will turn shipping containers into low-cost housing, which will be rented out at a cost of £75 a week. Each converted shipping container will feature a small housing area with a bed, TV, en-suite bathroom and air conditioning. Could shipping containers be the answer to the housing crisis?







Philippa L has written this article on behalf of Bingham Self Storage. Philippa likes to find the unordinary topics when writing posts and often writes posts based on self storage units. Connect with Bingham Self Storage, here.


8 comments:

  1. I had read about these years ago - and then when I moved to London I stumbled upon a whole set of them built into a low cost housing project for the Elephant and Castle area! They looked awesome - small but exactly what you'd need!

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    1. I have seen a bunch of really nice ones. It is a interesting concept and I know a few people who are thinking of downsizing and moving into one of them.

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  2. Some of these are crazy cool! But I don't think I'd want the storage box one. Too small.

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  3. I saw my sister's house which was made from a shipping container - or should I say, it is one! I love how she was able to turn it around to make it her "ideal and forever home" (as she often calls it). I don't know about you but shipping containers is an excellent option for those looking for an affordable home. If you want more informaion and insight, check out this link: http://modularhomeblog.com/modular/shipping-container-modular-homes.html

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  5. These sure like great dream homes to me for now... I still need to save a lot of cash before I'll be able to fund for my own home. ship container homes for sale

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