Shipping Container Homes

Written by: Ar Rinka D'Monte

Date: 14 May 2020

If you have been reading about alternative home construction, then you surely would have come across houses made out of shipping containers. It is not a new concept, but has been experimented for a while now. With such vast examples from all over the world and in India, we feel it is a very lucrative and intriguing idea. Initially, it may sound as a fast way of design and build option for a house which is best suited for weekend homes or row houses in large residential complex or unique hotels / resorts which are spread over a large chunk of land, but mind it that every modular house or every container house is not well designed, planned and executed.
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No wonder container homes still remain as a curious adventure for most, yet it does have potential. The design of the container houses is crucial for its life and usage (along with safety for its users), no doubt it sounds as a sustainable choice for faster home construction, but it will still depend upon the prior usage of the container.
With our ever increasing interest in developing newer methods and formats of house construction, we would like to explore the idea of an ideal container home in India and its possibilities.

​FACTS

1. A container comes in two size formats which are universally available and around 80% of the same are manufactured in China.
2. The smallest size being 20 feet in length by 8 ft (depth) and 8.5 ft is its height. The larger one is 40 ft in length and 8 ft in depth and of of 8.5 ft. in height. The smaller one weighs around 1.8 to 2.2 M.Ton and larger one weighs around 3.8 to 4.2 M. Ton  so it needs to be carried / maneuvered with a crane where as smaller one can be moved around with forklift and tow truck.
3. Most of the time a shipping container is used once for shipment before it is discarded at the landing port, as the cost of sending an empty container is higher than discarding it at the destination port. This makes up for a very skewed proportion of shipping containers being stacked at destination ports (increasing waste). So quite a number of local sellers make use of them as rental site offices for construction sites and others. Most of them are left to rot and get damaged over time (also waste land parcels for stacking and storing them). Only a handful of shipping containers are reused for the destination port for another shipment.
4. Usually they are priced quite handsomely but there may be a good price for transporting them from one port to an inland location. Also certain additional government certification needs to be checked and verified before it is allowed to be used for a house construction (as some of them may have carried hazardous chemicals in their last shipment). The pricing of each container will differ from port to port location in India (but its marginal) and also transportation cost depends upon the no of states it will cross and distance to travel. Another factor to consider is the time of shipment to the actual site of constructions as it depends on many other factors which are beyond the realm of house design and construction.
5. Usually it is presumed that with the shipping containers, the time of house construction will reduce but that is not necessary as the base foundation has to be erected before the super structure is installed and fixed on it. So from excavation to the construction of foundation, it will take as much time as any other regular construction. But this process is quite tangible and depends on various factors, so if proper planning, procurement and construction is done as per schedule then time can be saved. This in turn will help is reducing the overall cost of labor and cost of the house.
6. Finally it is about MONEY. Yes constructing and maintaining a container home will be lesser than standard construction practice as the area enclosed is smaller. The overall construction, planning and design will be more in modular format, so it will be very well optimized in terms of space and usage. The basic cost of a container may range anything from US $ 1500 to US$ 1600, but the rest of the investment will be as per the finishes and facilities that are required. As per the choice of the client the finishes can be regular or high, but it is better to go for long lasting materials (durability) rather than just for looks of the material.

 
Overall it is a house with purpose and conscious decision by its owner as it not following the usual path of house construction. It is giving an opportunity to a client to live in a uniquely designed house.
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PROS.

1. Because of the pre-designed size of a container, it will be mandatory to design a house which is just the right size. As a minimalist approach is very personal but there is no way a container home will be ostentatious due to its size.
2. If it is well planned and fabricated and partly finished at a workshop /factory then the time of its construction at site will be lesser and economical.
3. As any container is by default fire resistant and flood proof, it makes certain construction issues already handled.
4. It is much easier to add or attach awnings, canopies etc to the container as it is just a steel welding job away.
5. A life of a container is approximately 15 years so the investment into its construction is way worth it. Yes,  if you want it to last longer than certain additional design aspects have to be considered, but the basic framework of a shipping container is its Steel Skeleton which rusts over time if not painted well from the very beginning.
6. If designed in a modular format then it can be dismantled and shipped to a different location from time to time.
7. Since its modular it can be repeated in an overall Master Planning layout to create an interesting Row House Complex. 

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