Posted on 11/23/2012 4:14:58 PM PST by 2ndDivisionVet
The first U.S. multi-family condo built of used shipping containers is slated to break ground in Detroit early next year.
Strong, durable and portable, shipping containers stack easily and link together like Legos. About 25 million of these 20-by-40 feet multicolored boxes move through U.S. container ports a year, hauling children’s toys, flat-screen TVs, computers, car parts, sneakers and sweaters.
But so much travel takes its toll, and eventually the containers wear out and are retired. That’s when architects and designers, especially those with a “green” bent, step in to turn these cast-off boxes into student housing in Amsterdam, artists’ studios, emergency shelters, health clinics, office buildings.
Despite an oft-reported glut of unused cargo containers lying idle around U.S. ports and ship yards – estimates have ranged from 700,000 to 2 million – the Intermodal Steel Building Units and Container Homes Association puts the number closer to 12,000, including what’s sold on Craigslist and eBay.
HyBrid Architecture in Seattle, which has built cottages and office buildings from containers for close to a decade, coined the term “cargotecture” to describe this method of building. Co-founder Joel Egan warns that although containers can be bought for as little as $2,500, they shouldn’t be seen as a low-cost housing solution. “Ninety-five percent of the cost still remains,” he says.
Here’s a few recent North American projects – including the new condo project — where the shipping container takes center stage...
(Excerpt) Read more at abcnews.go.com ...
I know a guy up north that has 3 put together that he originally planned as a hunting cabin but now lives in.
He’s got them up on a foundation with a 4 foot deep crawl space with a concrete floor under it. He built a small pole barn around it, sided it and made himself a nice little house. I think its 20x24.
He says he’d like to try an A frame with 4 containers. 3 on the bottom and 1 on the top.
Been there done that... Around here anyway, even a worn out one costs 1500 bucks. Conventionally building a comparable space (2x4/6 with roof and say t-111 siding) is way cheaper. And that’s all you are getting is a floor, 4 walls, and a roof, and that is assuming the container is still water-tight (a BIG assumption)
What kind of snob demands a traditional structure because anything else is unacceptable to society.
Shipping containers are strong and durable and cheap. And they are all-American in that they are like pre-made log cabins.
I admire men and women who don't give a d@mn what "society" says and live and act in ways that best (and creatively) conform to their VALUES.
Check them out...
Easy to weld on external plate, LOL.
I’m curious as to what “wears out”.
Not a lot of moving parts, and this isn’t like auto sheet metal.
Primarily when the doors become unusable or the lock-down and sealing capacity fails. But they see a hard life. welds fail and the roof becomes leaky... One that I actually owned was 3/8" out of square which caused the doors to fail to close at all. I clipped the doors off, built a frame wall inside the back edge and used it for storage.
Don't think they are bullet-proof awesome, because they are not. Unless of course, you want to buy a 'new' one... Then they are pretty good - But be prepared to spend $3k-4.5k to get a nice one.
YMMV
I am thinking of getting into this businesses...and starting by developing my own cargo container house.
Here are a few more I like...
BTW, I used to live in NYC and was fond of living in undeveloped lofts. They were cheap, large, and you could use your imagination is terms of amenities.
Now lofts have gone mainstream and yuppies pay top dollar to live in them. Steel cargo containers will be the next big housing fad...for the same reasons. Cheap and you can use your imagination.
That architecture is long past its sell date!
Speaking of snobs.
sheesh
So those “incredibly skilled” union longshoremen tend to bugger them up, LOL.
But turning a cargo container into a traditional home is just kinda dull.
Use your imagination for God's sake!
For example, I am fond of log cabins and rustic structures. I would like a container structure that has that rustic kind of look...and on a piece of land that looks sort of frontier like.
You have you favorite look too...and it is uniquely YOURS.
Having something you like doesn't make you a snob...it doesn't make me a snob.
BTW, I always wanted a treehouse to live in...does that make me a snob?
Your local hardware store sells roofing tar...that'll make any steel roof leak proof. And there some new silicon products that can be painted over...and are still cheap.
Still think I am a snob? :-)
This is third world nation stuff!!!
Good God.
This country has hit an existential wall. Smart folks will go survivalist until the storm passes.
Conventional people who lack creativity will continue to seek the past (but the past is dead now...killed by Obama and his supporters).
Move on and live!
So without insulation, how is this ‘green?’
Cheeze...insulate it! Plywood or drywall with insulation behind it.
And it isn’t about green...it’s about getting by in a world in recession/depression.
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