10 Amazing Shipping Container Homes Around The World

Shipping Container Home Insulation: What You Need to Know

As opposed to more traditional forms of residential building, shipping container homes feature an all-steel façade. Given how well steel conducts thermal energy, it is particularly poor at maintaining a temperature differential between your airspace and the outside air. As a result, insulation is frequently required in greater quantities for shipping container homes compared to other building types.
Perhaps the most critical distinction between these two types of housings is in terms of price. There are no cost-cutting measures available here: both solutions are prohibitively expensive. Neither is as expensive as building a stick house, but they both require a significant investment to get started.

What Kind of Floors Are in Shipping Containers?

Have you ever wondered what it would be like to live in a shipping container home? Similar to the tiny home craze, DIY shipping container houses are all the rage right now.
The first thing that you need to know about shipping container home insurance is that it is similar to that of a normal home. You’ll want to make sure that your policy provides adequate coverage for your home and contents.
If you’re curious to experiment living in a storage container home just to get the feel of it, you could rent out the Containment house which is situated in Saugerties, New York. It’s a charming little cabin housed inside a shipping container.

Shipping Container Home Bathroom Water Tank: What You Need to Know

The ground floor houses the living area and open kitchen and the home office and bedroom suite are on the upper level. Both volumes are very welcoming and have stylish and modern interior designs and decors.

2. The Container Guest House designed by Poteet Architects

Inside there’s a lounge area with a wood stove and a comfortable sofa bed, a kitchenette with all the basic appliances and features and a lot of cool features such as a writing desk, a record player, a yoga platform, a hot tub and there’s even a hammock and a fire pit outside. You can rent this through Aibnb.

One criticism leveled with container homes is that the metal frame is inherently more difficult to cool and heat. Metal is an inefficient insulator, allowing heat transfer to proceed nearly unimpeded. Outside radiant heat transmission is a hazard for shipping containers in particular. 
Shipping containers have been built to resist the rigors of long-distance ocean travel while also protecting the goods contained within. The floors of shipping containers are frequently made of one-inch marine plywood manufactured from tropical hardwoods. Unfortunately, these hardwoods attract a wide variety of pests.
Living off the grid doesn’t have to mean a lack of style or comfort and one of the greatest things about shipping container homes is that they facilitate and encourage the idea of having the freedom to live anywhere and being able to do it in style.
The first prototype of the container house designed by MB Architecture was completed in 2009. It was an artist’s studio located in Amagansett, New York. The studio was built out of four shipping containers and was called the Insta_House.






With a few modifications, anyone can have their own tiny shipping container house with everything they need. But where do you begin? We’ve got all the tips right here!


To prevent insect damage, the wooden floors are sprayed with pesticides. While this is a reasonable method of carrying things, it is unsafe when employing containers to construct a home. These severe insecticides are toxic to humans, particularly kids, and should not be used in shipping container dwellings.

When it comes to choosing a roof type for your container home, you have the possibility to select between three different options.

3. The RDP House designed by Daniel Moreno Flores

 
Of course, there’s a lot more to it. The interior is planned in a way that maximizes the space and allows a lot of functions and features to be packed in a very small area.




When planning your shipping container home, the designs should include paths and connections designed for the waterline. They are almost certainly going to be positioned towards the back of the home, underground, to protect it from damage.

When you insulate a shipping container, you are effectively separating the conditioned airspace from the ambient air. It’s the same procedure as you would with practically any enclosed facility equipped with climate control. 

Shed roofing is mildly sloping and is extremely affordable and quick to construct. This layout is popular because it’s easy to install solar panels on the roof, which helps boost energy savings. 
 It has two bedrooms, two bathrooms, a full kitchen and a living room and it only took eight weeks to fabricate the whole structure and another day to install it on site. The project received the American Institute of Architects Peconic Chapter Honor Award for Architecture. Now structures just like this one can be purchased and installed everywhere in the US.
Most engineers will employ PVC tubing to contain incoming and departing water for plumbing needs. While shipping containers might not allow you to install a heater, with the addition of a solar panel, the water can be heated to a suitable temperature for use.
Another unusual element is that cedar tree which grows right through the deck. This happens because the house was actually built around this tree and its design was planned so that there’s a view of the tree from every room.

It has a one-bedroom, one-bathroom floor plan, it has a glazed back facade and it has a lot of handmade features and cool details in its design, including an outdoor shower, a wood stove and a vibrant color palette.

While building a shipping container home yourself may need a lesser initial expenditure, it is not less expensive in the long run. The expense of interior work, plumbing, and other necessary renovations to turn a container into a home is comparable to (and frequently exceeds) the cost of a mobile home.

In both hot and cold areas, little dwellings are often the better alternative. These dwellings will not require the extensive adaptations that container homes will require simply to maintain a pleasant interior temperature.

4. A modern shipping container home made of reclaimed materials

 The third phase involved installing steal beams between the containers which were meant to support the roof system. Finally, a series of pulleys and tensile cables were installed and their role was to support the secondary roof systems and the glass walls which connect the containers. So you see, container home floor plans and everything related can be complex too.

Tiny homes are scaled-down copies of traditional dwellings. All of the elements, including insulation and ventilation, will be included in the home, regardless of whether it is a custom-built home or a prefabricated home.

5. Container home with a tiny golf course on its roof

Special importance was given to the materials used throughout the project. The main goal was to ensure a minimal environmental impact and that had as much to do with the design as it did with the materials and the energy-savign systems implemented throughout. The focus was on renewable, reusable and recyclable materials, hence the choice of using containers. They also had to be durable and low-maintenance. The house features wood surfaces, concrete floors as well as a series of bamboo accents. Moreover, there’s a rainwater harvesting system used for irrigation and solar panels are installed on the roof of the house.
There’s a pretty big contrast between the interior and exterior designs of this container home. The outside has a strong industrial vibe while the interior doesn’t really suggest this style in any way. Further more, the chromatic palette is intriguing too. The exterior of the house is blue and has the typical worn look of shipping containers. The ground floor volumes has glazed surfaces and is open towards the views and the surroundings and the upper floor is more private and has small and horizontal windows.
The client was curious and excited about experimenting with shipping containers so the architects tried to keep the design of this new guest house as authentic as possible.

One of the most inspiring projects related to storage container homes was a collaboration between Cocoon Modules, an company based in Athens, Greece and Coco-Mat, a producer of high-quality mattresses.

Additionally, you will need to make the home utility ready. To maintain a container home’s comfort level in extreme weather conditions, seamless insulation is required to prevent warm or cooled air from escaping.
However, just because container dwellings are inefficient at preventing heat transmission does not mean they require insulation. The climate is another thing to consider.
The container home that resulted from this is modern and stylish, with a bright and open interior, has a sustainable construction and is furnished with eco-friendly pieces. Further more, it can be transported to just about any site.

6. A shipping container studio ready in eight weeks

If the speed with which you build your home is critical to you, you are probably considering the option of purchasing a prefab home. Additionally, container dwellings enable rapid building.
The green roof is a really cool feature. It helps this shipping container module to blend in with its lush surroundings. Another nice design feature is the spray foam insulation lined with bamboo plywood. Moreover, we love the fact that the container has this steely blue exterior which helps it maintain its industrial appearance.

Construction of container homes will usually take longer. To begin, you’ll need to carve out room for windows and doors that are structurally sound. 


When you have this freedom to actually get involved in the design of your shipping container floor plan and to basically place the structure anywhere you want, you can get pretty creative with the details.

7. L-shaped container home designed by James & Mau

Additionally, it must be securely secured to the ground by a foundation. Otherwise, it may be classified as a mobile house.
If you’re building a tiny house, the construction process will be significantly faster if you choose a prefab home over an ordinary home. 

 The project promotes environmental design in general but also aims to respond to the specific needs of the modern day nomad. There are numerous possible uses for such a structure. Inside there’s a bathroom, a social area with sliding glass doors and a sleeping area.




For example, Backcountry Containers designed this really cool shipping container home which can also be used as a workshop and which has a small roof terrace with a really tiny gold course on it.
Architect and builder TY Kelley built his own container home and did a wonderful job at making it look sleek and modern. The house is pretty small but has a lot of character.
Furthermore, shipping container homes are usually made with steel that absorbs an enormous quantity of radiant energy from the summer sun, becoming hotter than the surrounding air. 

8. Off-the-grid container home with mountain views

Simply put, unmodified shipping containers are excellent at preventing infiltration of outside air. They do, however, a poor job of preventing heat from passing through their walls.

In 2010 James & Mau completed a shipping container house with a 190 square meter L-shaped floor plan. The house is divided into two volumes.

9. A container house built around a cedar tree

Of course, you don’t have to limit yourself to only one container. The RDP House which was designed by architect Daniel Moreno Flores in collaboration with Sebastian Calero is definitely quite complex for a shipping container home.







If the shipping container is located in a residential zone, you can insure it under a homeowner’s policy. It must adhere to all applicable norms and regulations and possess all necessary permissions.

The project was quite complex but still easier and quicker than building a traditional house. There were four construction phases in total. First the concrete foundations were poured and then the shipping containers were positioned.

In reality, it is dependent on the manner in which the home is constructed. You can convert a container home to solar electricity far more easily than you can a stick home. If you want to conserve energy, you’ll need to adequately insulate the shipping container.

10. The Containment woodsy retreat

In the case of the project completed by Studio H:T the views are pretty amazing but the house is not too shabby either. In fact, these elements are in perfect sync and complement each other perfectly. 


Personal property coverage extends to things that are not considered a part of the container’s structure. In other words, this type of insurance protects your personal belongings.
It was built out of seven 20-foot containers plus one 40-foot container. The architects and their clients agreed to preserve the worn and weathered appearance of the containers in order to simplify the design and to give the house an industrial appearance.

One of the main goals of the project was to build a sustainable structure which is why the client chose to recycle a container in the first place. The transformation is spectacular.The guest house has large windows and sliding glass doors which ensure a close connection between the interior space and the immediate surroundings, in this case the garden. A deck acts as a connector between these two areas.

FAQ

Can You Insure a Shipping Container Home?

The Container Guest house is exactly what the name of the project suggests. It was designed and built by Poteet Architects for a client who lived in San Antonio, US, in a house situated on a former industrial site.


Typically, it is far more difficult to construct a compact house constructed entirely of recycled materials. You’d need to ensure that every component is produced entirely of recycled materials. 
Your homeowner insurance policy includes liability coverage. It covers you for any damage or injuries you cause, including property damage or bodily injuries. It covers lawsuits, medical expenditures, damage to other people’s property, and bodily injury.