Appendix
Completed Projects: Container City I
This is the original Container City project located at Trinity Buoy Wharf, in the heart of
London's Docklands.
Completed in 5 months in 2001, Container City I was originally 3 stories high providing 12 work
studios across 4,800 sq ft.
After high demand a fourth floor was added providing three additional live / work apartments.
As well as being very cost effective Container City I is environmentally friendly with over 80%
of the building created from recycled material.
Information:
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Completed: 2001
Installation time: 4 days
Architect: Nicholas Lacey and Partners
Engineer: Buro Happold
Developers:
Urban Space Management Ltd
Location: Trinity Buoy Wharf,
London E14 0JW
Containers used: 20
Units created: 15
Use: Live/work and studio space
Completed Projects: Container City II
As the second phase of the original Container City project at Trinity Buoy Wharf, Container City
II is both an extension and evolution of the first building.
Built adjacent to Container City I, with inter-connecting bridges, a new lift and full disabled
access, Container City II was completed in 2002 providing a further 22 studios over five floors.
In contrast to the first phase, Container City II is a funky ziggurat shape and painted in bright
colors to reflect the creative flair of those who work here.
Information:
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Completed: 2002
Installation time: 8 days
Architect: Nicholas Lacey and Partners
Engineer: Buro Happold
Developers:
Urban Space Management Ltd
Location: Trinity Buoy Wharf,
London E14 0JW
Containers used: 30
Units created: 22
Use: Studio Space
10 Brilliant Sustainable Shipping Container Homes
Shipping containers homes are tough. Built from weathering steel, these building blocks of
international trade are designed to withstand stacking, stuffing and strapping and are reused over
and over. There are roughly 17 million of these containers floating, riding and flying around the
world today, but the recent sustainable design trend has found these containers re-purposed to
carry a more fragile cargo — humans.
Eight feet tall, eight feet wide and either 20 or 40 feet long, the containers don’t contain much
space, but architects and building designers on the next page don’t exactly build within the box,
so hit the jump and size up 10 great shipping container homes.
The Four Room House
Stacked vertically on four different floors, Belgian architects Pieter Peelings and Silvia Mertens
of Sculp(IT) have created a compact home for streamlined living. Each of the four small rooms
serves a specific function in this shipping container home. From the bottom up, a spiral staircase
links a work floor, kitchen/dining floor, the living room floor and on the uppermost floor,
bedroom and bathroom space. [pic via]
Port-a-bach
Atelier Workshop’s Port-a-bach is a portable retreat designed to have a low-impact use on its
host landscape. The housing unit can be dropped on site by helicopter or delivered by truck and
easily connects to local utilities. The container home unfolds to “comfortably sleep” two adults
and two children and has a bedroom and integrated kitchen and storage cupboards. [pic via]
Ecopod
The Ecopod is a small and energy-efficient way for a homeowner to get off the grid. The
container home is easily transportable and secure enough to be left in remote locations for
extended lengths of time. Each Ecopod is powered by an 80-watt solar panel, floored with rubber
made from recycled tires and insulated with a soy-based product.
Espace Mobile
The affordable and modular Espace Mobile home is designed to be customized, a process the
designer likened to adding options to a new car purchase. The homes are made to retain heat and
conserve energy and can be tweaked to include a balcony or all manner of roof and interior
configurations. [pic via]
Container City
Urban Space Management’s Container City system makes the most use of urban space utilizing
the innate design benefit of shipping containers — stacking. The modular units can be used for
homes, apartments, and office and work spaces and simply bolt together. The Container City
designs are already being used by youth centers and for classrooms, art studios and retail spaces
around the world.
Greentainer
An Exposure Architects project to create an eco-sustainable building and to reduce CO2
emissions, the Greentainer uses available resources and a solar panel to power the small housing
unit, which could be used on an existing site as an accessory building or as a small cabin space in
a remote location.
Zigloo
Keith Dewey used shipping containers to create a 2,000 square-foot home in Victoria, British
Columbia. Using the recycled container building blocks, which only cost Dewey a few thousand
dollars each, he was able to build his Zigloo, a three-bed/two-bath home with an open floor plan,
five balconies and a full basement.
Redondo Beach Container House
Built around California’s notoriously stringent construction codes, De Maria Design’s Redondo
Beach Container House is sleek and contemporary, barely hinting at the recycled and sustainable
nature of the house. The American Institute of Architects gave the home design a 2007 award for
innovative design, which incorporates the used shipping containers, which are integrated with
traditional home building techniques.
Mobile Dwelling Unit
Each volume of LOT-EK’s Mobile Dwelling Unit serves a specific function. Built for those
“moving around the globe,” the transportable MDU travels with its owner, returning to its
shipping container roots by storing all their possessions and belongings during the trip. [pic via]
All Terrain Cabin
Big enough for a family of four and a pet, BARK’s All Terrain Cabin was designed so its owners
could live off the grid, but not without comfort. The home can be transported by train, truck,
plane or helicopter and when folded up, resembles a typical shipping container. Once installed, it
expands into a 480 square-foot living space.
Flat-Pack IKEA House: Built & Shipped for Under $100,000
Some of IKEA’s furniture can’t even be ordered online … but a whole house? Yes, they will
ship and build it all for a price that one might expect from them: $86,000.
In combination with architecture by IdeaBox, IKEA’s role is partly to provide likewiseeconomical furniture and furnishings for this dynamic abode. OK, dramatic might be a bit, well,
dramatic – it is IKEA, after all, straight lines with little detail are to be expected throughout.
In some ways, the concept is all about simplifying your decisions – avoiding the paralysis of
choice – while providing all the endless modular possibilities one comes to expect from IKEA.
Re-purposed, Recycled and Reusable Shipping
Containers for Sustainable Housing
Yes!