Google – The New Creator of Container Architects

Building a container residence can be nice DIY project, especially for those who take building as a hobby or a way to relax. Still, one needs to keep in mind that building container houses is a long procedure and requires extremely professional attitude. Due to many challenges, container house projects might escalate into failures. Thereby it is a worthy option to get a professional manufacturer to build it for you. There used to be a huge challenge in that option as well.

In order to manufacture container houses, the provider need the houses’ drawings. Building a house without blueprints is impossible. The manufacturers are also unable to determine the price without really specific details about one’s dream house. Most of us lack the architectural skills for that. Luckily, today all you need is a sketch made with Google Sketchup software.

Try googling container houses designed with Google Sketchup and you’ll find many results. By sending your sketch to a provider, you’ll safe a lot of time in negotiating and explaining your vision. Sketchup is a tool for you to translate the idea of your dream house to an architectural language that the manufacturers understand.

The prices of container houses can vary a lot. The prices are dependent of the number of floors, the amount of plumbing and electricity installations to name but a few. Use your sketches to inquire the prices. That’s how manufacturers can help you.

Container houses are advantageous related to conventional buildings in the sense that they can be built elsewhere than their final destination. For instance Shanghai Metal Corporation custom-manufactures numerous container houses every year and ships them worldwide. You can submit your inquiries and sketches in our Facebook page by sending a message. Check also our other social media platforms for future updates. See our container house service description here.

    

Tuomas P. // SMC Editor

Pictures and original articles: Eric Wichman’s blog, Victor Fernandez, Tin Can Cabin, Mister Swift, Land8, Google Sketchup

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Container Houses – Hobbits in the Mordor of Architecture

Why do people want to build their homes out of shipping containers? Because of the benefits one can gain from containers and the promises related to successful shipping container architecture. Container houses indeed have many benefits that are superior compared to more conventional construction material. Still, there are numerous examples of how container house projects fail. Failure and challenges make some people question containers’ position as a reliable building material. Here we want to discuss some of that criticism.

Modularity, eco-friendliness and excellent availability are indeed some of the many benefits of shipping containers. The ports of many import driven countries including the US have hundreds of thousands of containers that are never shipped back to their original destination. Therefore it is logical and environmentally friendly to find ways to reuse these building blocks. However like any building material, containers also need to be processed.

Shipping containers should not be used in the condition that they are when first found in the docks. They have taken hits and transported goods with unknown origin. They might have shipped contaminants and they floors might be in bad condition. Refurbishing  the containers thoroughly is as important as with any construction material.

 

Because of the numerous operations including flooring, plumbing, drywall etc., container house projects might become as expensive as ordinary building projects. Thereby it is an recommended option to buy prefabricated container homes from a reliable provider. For instance Shanghai Metal Corporation manufactures and ships numerous prefabricated homes each year to many countries.

Sometimes container homes get excessive critics. Some people say container homes are not suitable for areas that are either really cold or really hot. This is not true. There is even a huge inhabitable container house complex  in Antarctica!  In hot conditions the container houses can be built to direct the flow of air inside creating a natural ventilation and thus saving costs. Such examples include the container ship terminal in Seville and this container house created by Chinese university students.

Some people say container houses are not bullet proof. It’s true that the light steel walls won’t stop a .38 Magnum but it will stop dynamite. That’s something, say, a wood house can’t do. Moreover container houses are hurricane and earthquake resistant. Isn’t that more important?

The thing is that the shipping container architecture industry is really young and under development. In his book, Why A Students Work for C Students And Why C Students Work for the Government, a successful entrepreneur and author Robert Kiyosaki mentions that the construction industry is the slowest industry in adapting new concepts. He says that the time gap between when a new idea is proposed and its adoption is 60 years in the construction industry.

People have built wood houses for ages, and learned from their mistakes. That’s why wood houses don’t have that much criticism anymore. The container house patent was filed in 1987. Therefore the expected time for flawless container architecture should be around the year 2047. Container housing needs just more time to develop – from hobbits to heroes. Luckily, the signs refer to faster development than 60 years.

As in any construction industry it is important to do the right things. It is also important to do the things right. That’s what Shanghai Metal Corporation does by specializing in building container houses according to customers’ specification. A sketch of your dream house drawn with Google’s Sketch Up is what we need hear to realize your dreams. You may contact us first by this form. See our service description through this link. Check also our social media sites for future updates.

    

Tuomas P. // SMC Editor

Pictures and more reading: Wikipedia, Survivopedia, Homedit, Apartment Therapy, Container Alliance, Arch Daily, Jets on Green, Tin Can Cabin, Baidu Image

Container Homes – Only The Question of Make Or Buy

Shipping containers are a modular construction material that can be used to build affordable houses with aesthetic design. One of the major advantages of container houses is their durability; you basically need a light torch and dynamite to break in. Getting a safe home like this raises the question “to make or buy?”. Here we will analyze both of those options.

Buying a prefabricated container house will save you a lot of time and physical work. You need to consult a container house provider and offer them your sketches. You need to give them precise information about your living conditions in order for them to implement proper insulation, floor and roofing. You should also ask for computer rendered image of their work. There are many companies that provide prefabricated container houses and ship them worldwide. We also in Shanghai Metal Corporation do that. You can see our house concept and manufacturing details here.

Many people want to have a perfect control over the whole process which is why they choose to build them themselves. If you want to build a container house yourself, you should pay attention to some things. The first thing is the choice of containers. Countries that import a lot of goods but do not do much exporting have hundreds of thousands of used shipping containers in their ports. When you’re in a port you should select the one on the top of the pile because using a crane to get the lower ones is a time consuming and a rather expensive task.

The other thing is that you never know what has been shipped inside the container. Therefore you should hire a professional to check if there are any traces of toxic spillages or radioactive materials.

In terms of construction you need to pay close attention painting and insulation. If done improperly the house will start to collect rust and turn into a freezer or an oven depending on the outside temperature. The insulation is usually done with an insulating foam. When adding windows you need to be careful not to break the whole structure. You also need to use some steel reinforcements.

Some people want to build container houses themselves in order to save construction costs. But after considering the above mentioned aspects you’ll see that making it yourself might not be the cheapest option. Also if you add the fact that getting a professional to put in drywall, heating and plumbing may cost over $200 per square meter, you might want to take time and discuss more with a customized house provider. If you like building things yourself, you might want to start with smaller projects, say, a summer house, swimming pool or a sauna.

If you are a DIY person, just go for it! Whether you want to make or buy, we in Shanghai Metal Corporation can offer all the materials. We do customized container houses according to your requests. We also offer shipping containers and other additional construction material. You can send us more questions or specify your requirements with this form. Check also our social media channels for future updates.

    

Tuomas P. // SMC Editor

Pictures and original articles: HomeDSGN, Julie Kinnear, Container Transportation, Jets on Green

Please use the the social media boxes below to SHARE this article to reach all the people building container homes everywhere.

The Many Architectural Applications of Shipping Containers vol. 1

There are many ways how to use shipping containers to create affordable and sufficient real estate for housing or business use. In these series of blogs we will briefly discuss some of them. The volume one takes you to container homes, hotels, and retail outlets.

The benefits of container homes have been recognized worldwide. For instance, in Finland, container housing is becoming a great solution for offering affordable student homes.

One of the benefits of shipping containers is their modularity. Containers are like Lego blocks. You can pile them up and thereby even create a multiple floor or a multiple wing mansion. Still, sometimes only one container is enough for building a home.

A container hotel system is a new trend to take the hotel business closer to a specific clientele. Besides, the hotel solutions are made for luxury consumers offering them a wonderful experience. For example an UK company Snoozebox offers portable hotel services to any location or any events. The portable lodge has 40-400 rooms and each room has a flat screen and a Wifi.

Conventional retailing includes setting up a store in a fixed location and paying the rent for the use of the real estate. Modern retailing on the other hand, is mobile, meaning that instead of waiting for the customers to come to you, you will be able to easily relocate your business closer to your customers. This simple procedure is going mainstream and it can only be done with shipping containers.

If one already has an online retail business, it can be easily expanded offline with shipping containers and create a combined retail infrastructure that has all the advantages of both online and offline retailing.

Shanghai Metal Corporation  sells shipping containers internationally. We also make prefabricated shipping container housing and office solutions. Please visit our website on containers and container buildings for detailed descriptions. Follow us also on these social media platforms.

    

Tuomas P. // SMC Editor

Sources: See our articles on container homes, hotels, and retail outlets.

Continue to chapter 2

Please use the the social media boxes below to SHARE this article to reach all the friends of shipping container architecture everywhere.

Container Micro Homes Will Revolutionize Affordable Housing

Shipping Container architecture is getting branded as the synonym of affordable housing and sustainable living. Containers are a really low-cost and durable material that has caught the attention of designers and architects worldwide. Shipping containers can be easily modified. They can be stacked, flipped or welded together in different angles. Still, for creating a nice apartment, as these examples show, only one container is enough.

For instance an Australian firm Nova Deko Modular has presented one of their stylish designs in Milan. Their single-container prefabricated house is a compact and space saving solution that optimizes all the space-use inside a 40 ft shipping container. The interior design includes e.g. folding aluminum and glass doors that help to save space. They sell the prefab house for about US$ 34,000 excluding the shipping costs. (via Inhabitat)

Atelier Workshop’s Port-a-Bach is a shipping container micro-home on wheels. The house is designed to be easily moved to different locations and to accommodate two adults and two children. This portable, secure and relatively inexpensive helps to save costs also in the long run by utilization of solar power, wind turbines and by letting a lot of natural light to get indoors. (via Inhabitat)

Golany Architects‘ solution shows how a shipping container house can be well integrated in a natural environment. The site where they wanted to install the house already had two pine trees. Instead of cutting the trees down, they used the trees as shown in the picture above. The trees now support this rustic tree house by offering a natural source of air conditioning and protection from excessive sun light. (via Inhabitat)

Modular, affordable and space saving homes that can easily be integrated into their surrounding environment. That’s what shipping container houses are! We in Shanghai Metal Corporation also sell these houses. Please visit our website for more specifications or contact us through this form. Please also follow us in our social media channels.

    

Tuomas P. // SMC Editor

Container Libraries – The Little Helpers of Inspirational Education

A library made out of shipping containers in gaining popularity among the youth in the Netherlands. An architectural innovation designed by Jord den Hollander is a library on wheels that parks in schools to offer their students a new way of getting inspired to read books.

Den Hollander came up with idea by realizing that the narrow Dutch streets need a library that was also both narrow and could be able to have many books and a reading room. The BiebBus library is divided in to two sections, the lower section being the library and the upper section being the reading room. The library holds over 100 meters of books that the students can read lying on their beanbags upstairs. The remarkable interior design is emphasized by a transparent floor between sections.

Another container library is set in Indonesia, where a company named Dpavilion architects has installed a container facility that operates as “the windows of the world” offering education, inspiration and entertainment for people with small income. The facility also has a container clinic that is to offer medical assistance for the locals.

Shipping containers are made of durable steel that gives protection even in rough weather conditions. The simple steel structure and the standardized manufacturing process makes this superior construction material also really low-cost. Therefore the present and the future trends of affordable housing and sustainable architecture will be among shipping containers.

Shanghai Metal Corporation offers a wide variety of shipping containers. Please visit our websites of containers and container houses to see detailed descriptions. If you are planning your own construction project, please send us an inquiry and our English speaking staff will give you assistance. Meanwhile please visit our social media sites Twitter, Facebook, LinkedIn and Instagram.

Tuomas P. // SMC Editor

Pictures and original articles: Inhabitat, Dpavilion Architects, Inhabitat, Domus

Fabulously Creative House

The international design firm Playze has completed their design for Tony’s Farm container hotel. Tony’s Farm is the biggest organic farm in Shanghai, and it produces fruits and vegetables without any pollution.

Tony’s Farm

Tony’s Farm does not fix its eyes only on vegetable production, while they lead the customers to live a natural life. The farm worker and interviewer have an intersection in this building. It has complete functions including main reception centre, lobby which will be used for hotel reception, VIP section, new offices and existing warehouse where the organic agricultural products are classified and packed. The working area of the building is designed to be absolutely transparent, and it is convenient for the visitors to watch the whole production process, which can promote customers’ confidence for the quality of products.

Tony’s Farm

Meanwhile the company’s operation principle, energy conservation and environment protection, actuates the design of the building. The hotel is consisted of 78 containers, the size of the containers depends on the demands of functions and local climate. The cantilever beam is the main entrance of the building and then it comes to the lobby and the reception, later you will see three-storey high column and it is the most important part of the building. Later visitors will be leaded to a courtyard and take a sightseeing bus to hotel guest rooms which are fanned out across the farm and enjoy natural life.

Containers can be made into houses with various lifestyles, such as coffee shop, like Starbucks in the suburb of Seattle, tea house, performance platform and even your warm home.

Shanghai Metal Corporation experienced team aims to work closely with clients so to develop custom designs that satisfy their unique set of requirements. We offer reliable service in the design, manufacturing and installation of modern, efficient and comfortable container houses. In addition, we offer a range of different container house kits for you to choose from.

For our full list of products that we offer check out our website here. Be sure to join the conversation in our LinkedIn group, Facebook, Twitter and Instagram. Try also our new mobile application by scanning the QR code below.

You can also read more articles by our team at SMC:

Copper an Egyptian symbol of eternal life towards an increasing symbol of sustainability. 

Shipping Container Swimming Pools!

The Endless Potentials of Galvanized Steel

Can Container Pop-up Shops Challenge e-Commerce?

Top 3 Ammunition Alternatives

End Hunger and Extreme Poverty in Africa

Drunk Man Found In Container Bound For The USA

Source: design.yuanlin.com

Pictures: design.yuanlin.com

Annette X.//SMC Editor

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