Okay, first of all, this is less of a confession and more of a declaration. My darling wife at My Home Truths likes to mock me for my love of buildings made from second hand materials, particularly shipping containers. But I find something beautiful in the rugged steel, the simple lines and geometric shapes of these constructions. They are an excellent way to reuse a resource that quite literally fills up vast amounts of space, as many containers have a short lifespan before being left in shipping-container graveyards on docks and in industrial estates. And some of them just look cool.
Let me demonstrate:
Source: justbaustralia.com.au via Nathan on Pinterest
Source: enpundit.com via Nathan on Pinterest
Source: rollinghuts.com via Nathan on Pinterest
Source: justbaustralia.com.au via Nathan on Pinterest
Source: gliving.com via Nathan on Pinterest
The images above are of bespoke holiday homes and other private dwellings, but there are also many projects looking at the use of container homes as a form of low-cost alternative housing, either for disaster relief, or in very poor communities.
Source: thedailygreen.com via Nathan on Pinterest
Now, part of my fascination my be because I spent more than a little while living in a relocatable building (you know, the kind of thing they use as sight offices on big construction jobs) as a kid. That is something I have to deal with (and I am, with therapy and an unhealthy obsession with shipping containers). I admit, I may go on about how cool it would be to live in one of these buildings. But I am realistic – it will have to wait until the kids have flown the nest and it’s just me and Kirsty – right sweety?
All jokes aside, shipping containers can be used for cheap affordable housing, make interesting holiday cabins, and are just plain cool.
What do you think about shipping containers as dwellings? Do you have a dream holiday home?
Today’s declaration comes as part of My Home Truth’s “I Must Confess”.
I love what they can do within those small spaces as well! And as much as I live in a show box now though I am not sure I could go smaller to the container size.
I think they would be good as a holiday home – a cool alternative to a caravan or cabin, but they would need some serious additions to become full time homes.
Ha! I wrote about building and houses as well today – great minds and all that. I never thought about shipping containers as homes before! Some of those designs look very modern and cool. Not sure about their thermal properties? I only think of that aspect because my husband assesses homes for their thermal properties – how easy they are to heat and cool etc. Food for thought though 🙂
Great minds, indeed! I have some images of foam “cladding” for container homes, but I know from experience that relocatable buildings have NO thermal properties!
Wow, these are all intriguing – I’m with you – fascinated by the potential of shipping containers. When we were in Christchurch last year I took heaps of photos of the pop up shops & cafes near the heart of the city – made out of, you guessed it, shipping containers!
Yes, I have seen some amazing “pop up” shops – it is such a good idea.
Those shipping container dwellings look a lot nicer and more spacious than my bogan box. Maybe we should move into one of those instead of aiming for a McMansion in Boganville Heights.
Nice obsession.
Upgrade now!
Don’t get me wrong, some of those container homes look amazing but I couldn’t live in one full time. If you can get the children successfully out of home and find us a picturesque spot by the sea, sure, let’s spend our retirement years in a container home!
The idea of container homes as home a long way, and I think still has some distance to go. For shops, offices, storage they’re great. But personally, the container home ideas that I like are still pretty expensive!