Five Inspirational Shipping Container Homes
Reclaimed shipping containers are ideal nesting spots for the residents of these five homes. Whether lured by the relatively inexpensive costs, ready supply, or aesthetic charm of containers, the residents applied their own perspective on how to reclaim and adapt these industrial castoffs. Click though our slideshow to see more.
Poteet sheathed the walls and floor in bamboo ply. “We went to the hardware store on our lunchbreak, looking for inexpensive ply, and they told us they had just gotten a shipment of bamboo ply that someone didn’t pick up, so we got lucky and got it for the same cost,” says Poteet. “It’s renewable, really hard and as good for the floor as it is for the walls.”
Two San Francisco art and travel addicts overhauled a loft—and customized a pair of shipping containers—to accommodate their collection and reflect their passions. The shipping containers were stacked, joined with steel tubes, and lashed to reinforced floor joints to make them earthquake-safe.
Furniture designer Pat Carson created a plethora of custom fixtures for this guest room, including a riveted aluminum Murphy bed. The best Murphy beds raise and lower easily, often requiring only one hand. This unique wall bed employs a hand-cranked wheel-and-pulley system.
“A lot of the design was aimed at creating a sense of oasis,” says Shoup. Photo by building Lab inc.
In the kitchen and dining area, Shoup used ipe wood and installed an energy-efficient hydronic radiant heating system in the concrete floor. “There’s a minimalism that drives the basic design gestures,” notes Shoup. “I tried to temper that with a complementary materials.” Photo by building Lab inc.
The 400-square-foot deck between the main house and guest quarters catches a cool breeze—a big bonus during Houston’s “super-summers”—and is often filled with the couple and their friends enjoying local microbrews. "The challenge was how to stitch together the house and the guest container without it looking like at the last minute we decided we needed a little more space," Robertson says.
The couple had a big flatscreen TV but didn't want it to be the focus of the living room. Placed on the wall behind one of the red couches, it hangs quietly without drawing attention to itself but is in perfect position to be watched from the second couch (not pictured). Below the television is a counsel that Feldman's mother picked up at a thrift store for $50. Feldman has her reservations at first about the piece but after they took took off the base and lifted it on 2-by-4s for an elevated look, she was sold.
On the opposite side of the house stands an old oak grove; the views to it are enhanced by floor-to-ceiling sliding doors, which, when opened, create a natural breezeway through the house. Jantzen was able to sneak the roofline in just under an existing branch. At left is the small bedroom of the original cabin.
Jantzen sheathed the living area’s walls and floor in furniture-grade plywood paneling, behind which he placed thermal insulation to retain heat in the winter. He then sealed the ply in a water-based, low-VOC clearcoat to prevent any fumes from escaping from the ply.