Jefferey Pouros
Container homes have become almost mainstream lately, with more and more inspiring designs and cool ideas popping up constantly. Design-wise, each project is unique and different from the others, meant to appeal to certain types of people or to adapt to particular climates or locations.
One thing that most shipping container homes for sale seem to have in common is a small footprint and a floor plan that’s optimized to pack as much functionality in as little space as possible.
It focuses on upcycling or recycling abandoned shipping containers that, if not used for such a purpose, could become a discarded pile of steel taking up valuable space at some ports across the world.
Additionally, by recycling these steel constructions, one can reduce the demand for different materials that are used to build regular homes. Shipping containers, whether new or second-hand, can be acquired if you have a few thousand dollars, which makes them an economical alternative, particularly for the most basic of residences.
However, if you’re seeking to create a larger house, there are already shipping-container residences that exceed 2,000 square feet but the containers would cost closer to $25,000. As you can imagine, buying and using a shipping container house has its advantages and drawbacks, so let’s take a closer look at what you can expect. Setting up a shipping container house is significantly faster than traditional techniques of construction.
Numerous minor features and modifications can be made at the manufacturing site prior to the containers reaching their final destination.
For $35,000, one man utilized two shipping containers to construct a rustic cabin that is totally self-sufficient. It serves as a guest house and it has a simple and linear layout and large windows and sliding glass doors which connect the structure to its surroundings and let light and nature in.
When Studio H:T designed this house they focused on space-efficiency as well as on making this an off-grid retreat which can do well in remote areas. In fact, there are some pretty huge ones out there but when it comes to residences size usually varies based on what each design is trying to accomplish.
The living room, kitchen and bathroom are placed on the ground floor and the master bedroom suite and a study occupy the upstairs volume. The result was the RDP House, a building with a strong connection to the outdoors emphasized both in its design and floor plan.
It includes two bedrooms, a living room, a dining area, a full kitchen and a bathroom. It’s ready to work with solar panels in case you decide to take off-the-grid and it a glazed facade and large openings which let the light and the outdoors in.
A lot of times shipping container homes have a strong industrial and cold appearance but that’s actually not the case with VOR 640 which is a compact structure designed and built by MekaWorld. The Luckdrops container homes are designed to be minimalistic and space-efficient and they include modern amenities and elegant finishes.
The design maximizes space and efficiency and the steel shell ensures that the house is strong, durable and secure and can withstand wind, fire, show, floods and earthquakes.
Casa Liray is a shipping container home with floor plan measuring 115 square meters total. It was meant to be a low cost, earthquake resistant structure and it has to be built in a short period of time. Given all these requirements, using shipping containers made a lot of sense and helped the architects achieve all their goals.
The result was this modern L-shaped container house that’s able to adapt to a variety of different environments and conditions. Located in Canela Baja, in Chile, this beach retreat may be small but at the same time it’s also very cool.. It was designed by Pablo Errázuriz and was made using a reclaimed shipping container clad with corten steel plates and wooden boards. It has a covered deck and a roof terrace and it offers a variety of advantages such as the low cost and the fact that it requires very little maintenance. It was designed and built by Sundog Structures using seven shipping containers and has an interesting floor plan. Whether you use a shipping container as a residence or a maybe a commercial facility (like a diner), it is subject to the area’s numerous codes and rules.
However, are there any considerations to make if you intend to live in home containers for an extended period of time? To safeguard the delivered items during transportation, the wooden floors are sprayed with hefty and toxic insecticides.
Some future owners of home containers intend to convert it into a cabin and relocate it to the woods. Even if shipping containers are designed to resist storms and waves at sea, they are not completely immune to tornadoes.
Budget at least $10,000 for labor, in addition to expenditures for the permits needed, for making any plans, and any potential architectural fees. The following states have less restrictive zoning rules or construction codes: Colorado, Indiana, Massachusetts, New Mexico, Florida, Minnesota, Tennessee, Maine, South Dakota, North Carolina, Nevada, California, South Carolina, Vermont, Pennsylvania, Kansas, Georgia, Texas, Nebraska, Arizona, Michigan, Idaho, Oregon, and New Hampshire.
They are often more affordable than conventional homes due to the fact that they don’t need that much labor, nor do they consume too many building materials. Prior to purchasing the property on which you intend to build your shipping container home, you should verify that the specific zone doesn’t have any restrictions. Shipping container homes are permitted within Tucson’s city borders, but not within unincorporated Pima County.
