All Photos/exterior/roof material : metal/building type : house/roofline : flat/siding material : metal/building type : prefab/building type : shipping container

Exterior Metal Roof Material House Flat Roofline Metal Siding Material Prefab Shipping Container Design Photos and Ideas

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.

Known as the "project that kicked off Cargotecture," Hybrid’s Studio 320 was fabricated in 2004 and delivered to Enumclaw, Washington. The interior is lined in reclaimed plywood formerly used on the bleachers of a local high school gym.

Functioning as a vacation rental for tourists, entrepreneur Rick Clegg combined old shipping containers to create a four-bedroom home with an eco twist near Palm Beach, Florida. Because of the container's inherent durability, they meet Florida's stringent construction standards, and the compactness of the home, the low carbon footprint because of the use of the recycled, prefabricated containers, and the home's proximity to the Loxahatchee River, make it ideal for ecotourists.

Poteet replaced one wall with a large steel-and-glass lift-and-slide window wall, which he says makes the best use of indirect light. “The big sliding door and picture window make the 250-square-foot living space feel big,” says Hill.