In addition to saving on construction costs, upcycling an old container can be an eco-friendly alternative to building from the ground up.
Transforming shipping containers into habitable spaces is a growingly popular subset of prefab. Just off the Delaware River in Pennsylvania, Martha Moseley and Bill Mathesius adapted an unused concrete foundation to create a home made from 11 stacked shipping containers. "We were inspired by the site, and our desire to have something cool and different," says Moseley.
The couple designed the interior themselves, which Mathesius then mapped out using a freeware version of SketchUp Make as his primary tool. A legal consultant and former state superior court judge, he had no prior experience with the 3-D modeling tool but says he quickly picked it up in a matter of weeks, noting its ease of use. sketchup.com