Container Homes – The Illegal Saviors of Economies And the Environment

The ports of many import-driven countries including the USA are filled with used shipping containers that are never shipped back to their original destinations.  Therefore considering the well-being of the environment, getting new ways of use for them is crucial. Building affordable homes for many families is the best option, but how to influence the local decision makers to offer building permits.

The valuable resources of used shipping containers will remain as an unused asset if the decision makers do not allow the installation of shipping container houses. The roots of the problem are not on the operational level, in other words,  in the daily application and inspection processes. In many countries there are protocols on how large, what colour or which material the houses in a specific suburb should be made of. The problem is that the standards do not say much about special building materials, let alone shipping containers.

The inspectors can only follow the protocol, that’s a fact. Therefore people should work on influencing the upper level authorities, unions and city councils.

Social media offers great tools for that. It is important that people keep on writing blogs about the benefits of shipping container architecture. It is also equally important to share other people’s work on social media. The optimum use of Facebook, Twitter, Google Plus, WordPress  etc. enables the maximum reach of one’s work. Maximum reach implies that the content will eventually reach the decision makers or the people who influence them. Moreover, as we already analyzed in our former article, this industry develops really slowly, so all the counter measures should be designed for a long run.

 

Besides quality, quantity also counts. The decision makers also suffer from bounded rationality. Instead of only few experts, by social media they can be influences of thousands of experts, those who want to build affordable homes and to help to save the environment and the economy. Even though it sounds like a long shot but it’s still an implementable way.

Shanghai Metal Corporation also contributes to this good cause by creating content related to container architecture and sharing others’ work. SMC is a pioneer in providing shipping containers and container buildings for many countries. You can also join our social media communities.

    

Tuomas P. // SMC Editor

Pictures and more reading in: Containerist, Biz Journals, Wikipedia, Baidu Image, Baco Enterprises

Constructions That Defy the Limits of Shipping Container Architecture

The most shipping container structures consist of only one container. These kind of structures make good micro-homes, offices or pop-up stores. Still, it is more common to build bigger container constructions. What might be the maximum amount of containers one could use for a single building? These examples will lead to the answer.

Detroit’s The Power of Green Housing Development will upcycle 93 shipping containers to build the multi-family home complex shown in the picture above. This four-floor house of flats will have 20 residences of one to three bedroom solutions. The residents will also have their own protected parking garage. Its tankless water heating system and ventilation will guarantee low energy costs. (via Inhabitat)

This shipping container complex will have an area of 270,000 sq ft for shipping containers which refers to approximately 700 shipping containers. New York’s SuperPier is US$200 million project that will include a restaurant and a retail complex with bathhouses, sky parks, performance spaces, a rock climbing gym and a garden. The complex will be built to upgrade the existing installation and will be opened during summer 2015. (via Inhabitat)

The complex that New York-based architecture firm LOT-EK is designing in Taiwan, will consist of 1,620 shipping containers. Recycled containers will be the main material for Taichung city’s Cultural Center that will hold art shows and screen films among many other cultural activities. The complex will be built to be eco-friendly by integrating a rainwater reuse system and energy-efficient ventilation/insulation system. (via Inhabitat)

So how large can shipping container complexes become? Well, containers are designed to hold heavy loads of weight on their four corner pillars that allow the piling of several containers. Building tall container towers is limited only by the properties of forklifts and cranes. Because containers are made of a simple steel structure that allows simple operations of cutting and welding, the width of complexes is also not limited.

 

Actually, some shipping container constructions are built to be expanded as necessary. For instance a container bungalow in Spain shows this example. Therefore, at least in theory, there seems to be no limits for the size of shipping container complexes.

No matter how big the world’s shipping container complexes will grow in the future, Shanghai Metal Corporation will keep on providing prefabricated shipping container construction and shipping containers internationally. If your business is need of them, please contact us with this form. Please also follow us on these social media platforms.

    

Tuomas P. // SMC Editor

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