Cool, modern house, right? It's not just that. It's made from shipping containers, and is "infilling an empty lot overlooking a regional park in the eastern hills above San Francisco Bay."
Leger Wanaselja Architecture took two refrigerated shipping containers (instant structural frame, exterior siding, and insulation), stacked them, and added a third one, cut in half and stacked on itself. Voila! A 1,350-square foot two-bedroom house. Then they created a two-story atrium living room, added bay windows to the upstairs bedrooms, and connected the two upper containers to the space below with stairs and a bridge through the atrium. The result is compact, yet airy.
Green materials include blown cellulose insulation for the roof and floors, 50% fly ash/slg in concrete foundation and piers, “green seal” paint on the interior, wool carpets and bamboo flooring, Solar Tubes for day lighting, Energy Star appliances, a high efficiency water heater, and dual flush Caroma toilets.
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Comments (13)
such an awesome house. how much does a shipping container go for?
Looks amazing!
would the cost per square foot make these a viable design for rebuilding , in a port city like New Orleans ?
knk: That would be nice but I suspect that this dwelling is anything but affordable.
Its beautiful.
I don't find faulted ceilings cozy.
Not exactly a good idea if the big one strikes SF, right? Is this Earthquake proof on the site of a hill made out of shipping containers?
new containers can cost anywhere from 1,000 - 4,000 (refridgerated containers would fall on the higher end) but you can purchase used containers for considerably less. Assuming the container cost 1,000 that would be $3.12/sq ft (a standard container is 8' wide and 40' long). Containers are extremely structurally sound (they withstand a ton of abuse) but as far as earthquake proof I don't know. My guess is the container would be fine but problems would lie where several containers are joined together.
Actually, remember that the containers are designed to be stacked 6 - 7 units high and then put on a ship that could face storm conditions, without further lashing, attachment, etc. So..they bolt together in a pretty serious way onto dedicated fittings; I imagine the requirements for shipboard usage would accomodate a significant seismic rating.
you're probably right WOV assuming that the method used to bolt them together for home is that same used on cargo vessels. I was thinking there could be a problem where the containers were cut and joined side by side.
This house is a thousand percent better than the other ones I've seen made from shipping containers. I hope this example inspires more great designs.
I agree, this is the best-looking and most appealing shipping container house I've seen.
If your'e interested in the concept and what's been done so far, there's lots of info on fabprefab.com
so where can i get one? :)
Can I try this at home?