

Pay attention to the different certifications. Used shipping containers are a more eco- and budget-friendly option, but you need to carefully inspect their condition. If you buy an empty, brand-new shipping container, it will likely come from manufacturers in China the Chinese company CIMC produces around 82 percent of the world’s steel shipping containers. Assembly Studios Where do the shipping containers come from and how do you buy one? Sculptor David Mach approached his first building with an artistic eye, assembling 36 bright red shipping containers into an artfully arranged jumble.

Some containers are stacked in a row to create multi-level residences, while others can be twisted and turned Jenga-style to deliver striking architectural masterpieces.

In homes with multiple containers, walls are often removed to create more spacious interiors, and traditional construction methods add exterior materials and additional rooms. Some shipping container homes stop here, using these compact spaces as standalone tiny homes or offices.īut many builders or owners combine containers to create larger homes, like this version in Missouri. There are also two height types, regular (8.5 feet high) or a high cube container that provides about a foot of extra vertical living space. The smaller of the two equals about 160 square feet of living space, while the larger container gets you 320 square feet. Shipping containers usually come in two sizes, either 20 feet by 8 feet or 40 feet by 8 feet. Photo by Windy Haus/ What is a shipping container house?Ī shipping container house is any dwelling made from a shipping container, but the resulting structures can be quite diverse. This one-bedroom, one-bath shipping container house showcases sleek design in Livingston, Montana. So what exactly goes into building a shipping container home? And are they as economical, sustainable, and livable as claimed? We break down what you need to know below. Some structures can be simple-a single compact shipping container outfitted for dwelling-while others are complex designs that use multiple containers merged with other structural components. Since the mid-2000s, designers began repurposing containers into a wide array of buildings. Where some saw a problem, innovative architects saw an eco-friendly opportunity. However, over the decades a challenge emerged: an excess of used containers.

They are large and sturdy enough to uniformly transport goods but small enough to fit on trucks and light enough to be moved by cranes and forklifts. Shipping containers fill a crucial niche in the world’s economy.
