Container Observatory – The Best Place for First Date!

Shipping containers can be converted into various kinds of buildings ranging from homes to hotels. They can also be fit into their surrounding environment. A sunset observatory in South Korea’s Incheon makes a good example.

A Korean company named  AnL Studio, has created “Ocean Scope”, an observatory for enjoying the sunset and admiring the horizon in a romantic setting. The structure is built on five shipping containers that are placed on different heights. The containers are also placed on 10, 30, 50 degree angles offering visitors different points-of-view. The containers are equipped with staircases.

In South Korea, many shipping containers are used as temporary shelters in rural areas. The containers do their purpose as shelters but still, they are not harmonized with the surrounding nature. Ocean Scope is one of those examples that show how container architecture can build a dialogue with nature.

Fitting container buildings into their surroundings is a relatively easy task. Due to their simple steel structure, container houses are mainly modified by cutting and welding that are not really labour-intensive operations. Incheon’s observatory’s stair design and the positioning of containers show what can be done with welding and cutting.

Shipping containers are designed to hold heavy weight only on their four corner pillars so excess weight on them might be very damaging. Therefore, roofing is always a challenge with container buildings. Our article on containers shelters describes one roofing solution, but the observatory shows how it can be done more conveniently. The containers are put on different angles allowing rainwater and snow pour down from them. How smart!

Shipping containers are a durable material and today’s main component for affordable and sustainable architecture. We in Shanghai Metal Corporation sell this super construction material internationally. To learn more about our containers, please visit our website. Possible inquiries can be submitted through this link. Please visit our social media sites.

Tuomas P. // SMC Editor

Pictures and original articles: Inhabitat, Dezeen

    

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In Container Homes Winter Is Always Outside

Shipping containers are a superior building material and the mainstream for affordable housing. As a form of prefabricated construction, shipping containers houses can to huge extent be built elsewhere than in their final destination. In order for shipping containers to become livable homes, they need a makeover including a proper insulation.

Shipping containers are usually described as an optimum construction material for areas with relatively high temperatures. The reason is that there are well know techniques on how make shipping container houses naturally ventilated. For instance the shipping container cruise terminal in Seville is designed to resist high temperatures during hot summers.

Shipping containers are also suitable for places where winters are long and cold, and where it snows a lot. Originally shipping containers were designed to resist rough weather in the seas during shipping and therefore shipping containers later became an excellent building material. It seems that shipping container architecture was invented like Coca-Cola – by accident.

There are examples of shipping container winter homes that are suitable for Northern countries such as Northern USA, Canada, Finland and other Nordic countries.  For instance an American real estate agent Jeffrey White is transforming shipping containers into affordable and eco-friendly homes for low-income families in Salt Lake City. Each home is made out of two shipping containers, and the whole projects costs 120,000 dollars including the land they sit on. (source)

In order to build beautiful homes like these, the shipping containers need to be enforced with proper insulation. In Shanghai Metal Corporation we sell both shipping containers and highly moisture resistant glass wool for insulation.  Our prefabricated container homes come with polystyrene foam insulation. If you are building affordable homes we will gladly offer you all the material. Just send us an inquiry and our English speaking staff will contact you. Meanwhile please visit our social media sites for future updates.

    

Tuomas P. // SMC Editor

Pictures and original articles: The Fair Verona, Jetson Green, Small Cabin Plans, Tiny House Blog, Inhabitat

An Antarctic Prefab Shows the True Potential of Shipping Containers

India’s National Center for Antarctic and Ocean Research is situated in northeast Antarctica. The Bharati Indian Polar Station is built on an 27,000 square feet area out of 134 shipping containers. The research center’s residential quarters shows almost everything that can be built out of shipping containers including an hotel of 24 single and double bedrooms, kitchen, dining room, library, fitness room, offices, a lounge and an operational theater.

There are at least two reasons why the research complex was built by using shipping containers. First, according to the Antarctic Treaty System, all the construction in the Antarctica should not leave any trace to the environment. Shipping containers make it possible to dissassemble and remove the building without causing any environmental impact.

Second, due to shipping containers’ physical properties and their durability, they are an excellent building material for extreme weather conditions. Shipping containers are designed to be shipped even in a rough weather in the world’s seas. Therefore they can even handle the wind gusts of 200 mph and the temperatures of -40 C of the Antarctica.

The shipping container complex was prefabricated in Germany and shipped to Antwerp and Cape Town. In Antarctica the research center was able to be assembled quickly. The facade of the center was designed to forestall the buildups of snow drifts.

Thanks to the German company Bof Architekten, the center can accommodate 47 researchers during summers and 24 during winters. The energy of the center is provided by a Combined Heat and Power Unit (CHP) which is powered by stockpiles of kerosene. There are actually a total of three CHP units on site, so as to ensure that an untimely mechanical failure does not leave the residents in dire straits.

Shipping containers and shipping container architecture are one of Shanghai Metal Corporation‘s largest businesses. Our containers are built to last according to international standards. In order to learn more about our products and services, please visit our websites on containers and container projects. Please also follow us on Twitter, Facebook, LinkedIn and Instagram. Try also scanning our QR code with your smart phone, tablet or phablet.

 

#BuildingValueAcrossTheGlobe

Tuomas P. // SMC Editor

Pictures and original articles: Gizmag, Bof Architekten, Inhabitat

New Building Materials – Containers, Snow, Lego and Beer!

Most of us probably share a concept that houses should be build of, say, wood, stone or concrete. But as we can see, the variety of building materials is actually larger than we would have thought.

For instance in Finland’s city of Kemi, every year they build a large castle of ice and snow. In the castle there is a chapel for couples to get married, a restaurant and a hotel. The hotel rooms’ temperatures are about – 5 degrees Celsius. The hotel also has a lounge with a sauna and a heated swimming pool. The lowest room rate is 125 euros. More information about the snow castle can be found through this link.

The Wat Pa Maha Chedi Kaew Buddhist temple in Thailand is constructed from a million glass beer bottles. The mosaics made of beer bottle lids create mesmerizing patterns to the walls. The green glass walls also diffuse light beautifully in the temple.

A Top Gear celebrity James May built a two-story house which was able to be lived in. For building the house he used over three million Lego blocks, yes, Lego. Another famous Lego building is in Hungary’s Budapest where they have built a Lego tower of over 34 meters tall (114 feet). The tower has been confirmed as the world’s tallest Lego tower by Guinness World Records.

Shipping containers are getting more mainstream in building relatively cheap but luxurious accommodation. For example in Finland they are building student apartments out of used containers. In China they have a luxurious container village. Please read our blogs on student housing and container hotels for more details.

Shanghai Metal Corporation is a major supplier in Container Housing industry. To know more about our Container homes, villas, hotels and offices, please visit our website. Please also follow us on Twitter, Facebook and LinkedIn. You can also download our new mobile application by scanning the QR code below.

 #BuildingValueAcrossTheGlobe

Tuomas P. // SMC Editor

Pictures and original articles: Visitkemi, Listverse.com, Owip.net, CNN Travel, CNN Travel, Discovering Finland, BBC Travel, Useitagain