There isn’t anything new in recycling discarded shipping containers to create homes. However, some architects believe that shipping containers have a much larger recycling potential that simply being used as a single-room house. These architects are envisioning sustainable developments like cities and residential complexes that have a steel skeleton. Here is a list of 11 such structures that make use of recycled shipping containers on a much larger scale
Sports hall for Dunraven School, London
Recognizing the potential of shipping containers as building materials SCABEL Architects and Urban Space Management have created a sports hall featuring a gymnasium. Costing about £1.5 million, the structure was erected in just three days.
Lotto Trum, Stuttgart City Center
After being used as a parking spot for over 40 years, designer Lars Behrendt piled-up 55 shipping containers to create a structural artwork. The first part of the building will be a courtyard that will be isolated from traffic and noise, and the second part will be a tower with an artificial pathway around it. According to its name, the project is inspired by lotto numbers, which will be displayed by a sphere at the top of the tower. Mesmerizing lotto characters will be introduced all through the architecture to give it the much needed attraction, especially for kids who visit this place.
Shipping Container Shopping Center, New York
Proposed by LOT-EK Architects, the plan is to develop a two-acre rooftop park and includes shipping containers recycled into artisan stores. Pier 57 is one of the several piers that have to be redeveloped within the Hudson River Park boundaries and is expected to become one of the park’s main attractions. The plan features a permanent shipping container market place that will offer low rent work and commercial spaces for artists and other small businesses.
ISBU Container Residential Complex, Utah
San Francisco-based Group 41 Inc is trying to take shipping container architecture to a whole new level by designing a residential complex from over 1000 recycled shipping containers. The ISBU Container Project is designed to be developed in Utah and will be the largest container housing project in North America. The complex will feature 200 luxury 1400-square-feet condos constructed from shipping containers.
COP 15 Pavilion, Copenhagen
Developed by Danish architecture firm MAPT, the COP 15 Pavilion has been entirely constructed from recycled materials including shipping containers, to coincide with the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change. The shipping containers used in the pavilion can easily be dismantled and used again, even as a shipping container. The flexible design also ensures that the structure can be split up and used separately. The architects also believe that in future it will be possible to build both houses and second home where the principle of sustainability is incorporated from beginning to end.
Travelodge, London
Built on the outskirts of London the Travelodge budget hotel can claim to be Europe’s first ever building made from shipping containers. The Uxbridge hotel has 120 rooms and the double rooms measure a small but hardly claustrophobic 5m x 3m. The building has 307 rooms and the interiors look just as good as in any other Travelodge Hotel. Those who visit the Hotel will not notice any difference, and if you did not tell them, then they would never know that this was build from shipping containers. Now, that is a smart way to save energy and time!
Container City, Mexico
Built entirely from discarded shipping containers, the Container City offers 4500 m2 of urban space about two hours from Mexico City and makes use of 50 metal containers that are recycled into hippie stores, bookstores, art galleries, bars, restaurants, bakeries, juice bars and work and living spaces. The city’s doors are open Monday to Saturday from 10am-8pm and Sundays 11am-6pm.
Crou Student Housing Complex, France
Designed by French architecture firm Olgga Architects, the Crou is a complex designed to provide affordable housing for students, where each container represents a different student’s room. The shipping container rooms feature separate areas for studying and relaxing and are designed in different typologies to suit individual requirements. The complex takes the shape of a pyramid, with containers stacked on top of one another.
Keetwonen Student Housing Complex, Amsterdam
Keetwonen is a student housing project by TempoHousing developed in Amsterdam that turns 1000 shipping containers into residential units. The residential units provide all the amenities a student could even want. The design also integrates a rooftop to accommodate efficient rainwater drainage while provide heat dispersal and insulation for the units beneath.
Container Cities, Haiti
Proposed to help in the aftermath of the Haiti Earthquake, the Container Cities project will utilize modular construction system along with recycled shipping containers to provide sustainable dwellings to the victims of the earthquake. The design uses a steel frame system with rubber rollers, which the containers are inserted into, allowing them to be easily stacked on a solid foundation. This system is also easily scalable, can respond quickly to the changing needs of the complex, and is lightweight and structurally sound against earthquakes.
Platoon Cultural Development, South Korea
The Platoon Kunsthalle is set up in Seoul as a space for subculture in Asia. The development is built from 28 cargo containers. As icons of a flexible architecture in a globalized culture, the stacked containers form a unique construction that can be rebuilt anywhere else any time.
