Containers for residential use

Comfortable accommodation for individuals, families, students or guests

Containers are used for homes

From a single unit adapted into a comfortable studio apartment to a combination of containers 15 storeys high to create student accommodation on campus, shipping containers offer a low-cost solution to housing needs.

It’s easy to incorporate features such as underfloor heating, ground and air-source heating, green roofs and solar heating for more sustainable living, making shipping containers a very viable option for anyone who wants to limit their impact on the environment. Without the need to build from scratch, avoiding the need for deep foundations and raw materials such as bricks, the environmental impact is lessened even more.

Because containers are constructed from steel, a material that conducts both hot and cold temperatures, insulation is essential. Important for any type of home, good insulation in a converted shipping container can reduce energy usage – and therefore lower energy bills – and make compact living even more sustainable and low cost.

The transformation of shipping containers into living spaces can be phenomenal. Architects enjoy the challenge to turn a steel box into a desirable space in which to live, making the most of the interior space to provide completely self-contained units with living and sleeping areas, kitchen and bathroom facilities. Externally, cladding and the addition of a balcony or decking surround can go a long way to hiding the fact that the structure was once a humble shipping container.

In a world that is becoming ever more crowded, where affordable housing is in dire need in so many countries, the reuse of shipping containers to create compact homes is truly inspired.

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