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45 Amazing Homes and Offices Built from Shipping Containers

Engineers and architects have transformed ordinary shipping containers into amazing homes and office spaces around the world

By Brian Clark Howard
Container City IIpinterest

Engineers and architects have transformed ordinary shipping containers into amazing homes and office spaces around the world. Here are a few of our favorites.

De Maria Design Redondo Beach House

Multi-Container House, Redondo Beach california
Andre Movsesyan/DeMaria Design

With its modern lines and appealing spaces, the award-winning Redondo Beach House by De Maria Design turns heads. The luxury beachside showpiece was built from eight prefabricated, recycled steel shipping containers, along with some traditional building materials. According to the architects, the modified containers are "nearly indestructible," as well as resistant to mold, fire, and termites. Seventy percent of the building was efficiently assembled in a shop, saving time, money and resources.

One of the containers can even sport a pool! The lessons learned from Redondo Beach House are being incorporated into a line of more affordable, accessible designs, soon available as Logical Homes.

London's Container City

inside london container city, shipping container house
Urban Space Management

Conceived by Urban Space Management, London's Container City first sprang up in the heart of the Docklands in 2001. It took just five months to complete the original 12 work studios, at a height of three stories. Shortly after that a fourth floor of studios and living apartments was added.

Container City was designed to be low cost, as well as environmentally friendly. Recycled materials made up 80% of building supplies. Architect Nicholas Lacey and partners and engineer Buro Happold used component pieces to build up adaptable living and work spaces.

Container City II

container city II, shipping container studios and housing in london
Kool-Kini/Flickr

Container City I was a success, and in 2002, Urban Space Management added an addition, dubbed Container City II. Reaching five stories high, Container City II is connected to its earlier iteration via walkways. It also boasts an elevator and full disabled access, as well as 22 studios.

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Container City II

Container city closeup

A closer look at Container City II, which offers unique spaces to stir creativity and collaboration.

All Terrain Cabin

all terrain cabin container home from bark design collective
Bark Design Collective

Canada's Bark Design Collective built the All Terrain Cabin (ATC) as a showcase for sustainable (and Canadian!) ingenuity. The small home is based on a standard shipping container, and is said to be suitable for a family of four, plus a pet, to live off the grid in comfort and style.

The cabin folds up to look like any old shipping container, and can be sent via rail, truck, ship, airplane or even helicopter. When you're ready to rest your bones, the cabin quickly unfolds to 480 square feet of living space, with a range of creature comforts.

The Ecopod

the ecopod container house
Courtesy of Ecopod

Another container home designed for on- or off-grid living is the Ecopod. Made from a shipping container, an electric winch is used to raise and lower the heavy deck door (power is supplied by a solar panel). The floor is made from recycled car tires, and the walls have birch paneling (over closed-cell soya foam insulation). The glass is double paned to slow heat transfer.

The Ecopod can be used as a stand alone unit or with other structures. It is designed to minimize environmental impact.

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Adam Kalkin Quik House

adam kalkin quik house, container house
Quik House

Want your own container house? There's a six-month waiting list for the Quik House by architect Adam Kalkin, who is based in New Jersey. The distinctive Quik House comes in a prefabricated kit, based on recycled shipping containers (in fact a completed house is about 75% recycled materials by weight).

The standard Quik House offers 2,000 square feet, three bedrooms and two and one-half baths, though larger options are also available. The shell assembles within just one day, and all the interior details can be finished within about three months.

The Quik House comes in two colors (orange or natural rust bloom), and the estimated total cost, including shipping and assembly, is $184,000. You can add even greener options such as solar panels, wind turbines, a green roof and additional insulation (to R-50).

illy Push Button House

illy push button house, container cafe

Italian coffee roasters illycaffe were inspired by Adam Kalkin's designs, and commissioned him to build the Push Button House. In just 90 seconds, a compact metal container opens into a fully furnished cafe, with functional kitchen, dining room, bathroom, bedroom, living room and even library. Andrea Illy, chairman and CEO of illycaffe, has said the company was interested in Kalkin's ideas of "home as one continuous mouldable surface, a relief against which human activity would pop out."

illy Push Button House

illy push button house container cafe

Kalkin's designs have been used for disaster relief, luxury showpieces and promotions. The illycaffe concept has been show in New York and Europe.

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Cove Park Artists' Retreat

cove park artists retreat, container housing
Urban Space Management

Set on 50 acres of gorgeous Scottish countryside, Cove Park is an artist's retreat designed to stimulate and reinvigorate. Urban Space Management first brought in three repurposed shipping containers in 2001, and the center became so popular that more units have been added.

Peer Inside the Box

cove park artists retreat, container housing
Urban Space Management

Let's take a closer look inside...

Inside Cove Park

cove park artists retreat, container housing
Urban Space Management

Doesn't look like your average shipping box, does it?

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Jakarta Container Living

Human, Window, Door, Painter,

It's important to remember that resourceful people have been living in repurposed shipping containers for decades, particularly around ports and along the margins in developing countries. The big metal boxes are dry, fire resistant and quite readily available.

Here, some men make their homes in containers in Jakarta. A community of people have lived in shipping containers for 20 years in Armenia, since the temporary housing set up for them after the devastating 1988 earthquake has never been replaced.

Mr. Wu's Container House

container house in taiwan
Electric Soup/Flickr

On his thought-provoking blog, Tony Wilkinson chronicles the life and struggles of Mr. Wu and other characters on Dragon Mountain in rural Taiwan. Mr. Wu is apparently very fond of his goats, as well as weeding his tobacco patch and playing mahjong.

Apparently he lives in this rusty reclaimed shipping container, and hopes for a wife one day.

LiNX Temporary Structures

linx temporary container structures
Kool-Kini/Flickr

Dublin-based designer Richard Barnwall envisioned this design, dubbed the LiNX, as a temporary structure for construction workers. The two-storey model pictured is to be comprised of four 20-foot containers.

Such designs offer flexibility and rapid deployment, and may even work for more permanent homes.

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Ross Stevens House

ross stevens container house in new zealand
Ross Stevens/petraalsbach/Flickr

Industrial designer Ross Stevens built this distinctive house in Wellington, New Zealand. Repurposed shipping containers form an intriguing contrast to the surrounding hill. In fact, the unique home makes use of the hill itself, expanding interior space beyond the containers.

Parts of the Ross Stevens house are surprisingly spacious and comfortable. There's even a cool table made from a repurposed door.

Ross Stevens House

ross stevens container house in new zealand
Ross Stevens/petraalsbach/Flickr

Exterior view of the unique Ross Stevens house.

Student Housing Project Keetwonen, Amsterdam

Student Housing Project Keetwonen, Amsterdam
Kool-Kini/Flickr

Billed as the largest container city in the world, Amsterdam's massive Keetwonen complex houses 1,000 students, many of whom are happy to secure housing in the city's tight real estate market. Designed by Tempo Housing in 2006, Keetwonen is said to be a roaring success, with units that are well insulated, surprisingly quiet and comfortable.

Each resident enjoys a balcony, bathroom, kitchen, separate sleeping and studying rooms and large windows. The complex has central heating and high speed Internet, as well as dedicated bike parking.

Keetwonen has proved so popular that its lease has been extended until at least 2016.

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Relaxed, Efficient Living

Student Housing Project Keetwonen, Amsterdam
maerlant/Flickr

Check out those balconies! Keetwonen is admired in part because of the social atmosphere it fosters among college students.

Skinners Playground

skinners playground by phooey architects australia, container building

Melbourne, Australia-based Phooey Architects built the whimsical Skinners Playground entirely out of used shipping containers and other reclaimed materials. Local children enjoy romping around the creative space, and get a unique chance to better understand the concept of zero waste.

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