New ideas for building homes that also consider the environment and recycling are becoming more and more popular. One such set of homes have been built in Joplin, Utah USA. These were created as part of a reality TV show. In this case it was to provide homes for those who had lost homes in a tornado. The houses were made from railroad containers. They were designed to be extra strong to survive the storms and earthquakes that can occur in the area. The containers are also equipped to run entirely from solar and wind energy. In addition the roofs are designed to gather rain water and the fittings and furniture are all made from recycled materials. These were made from single units but larger homes can be made from joining more than one container together to create unique and interesting homes:
Another container hone is called the Maison Container and this is designed by French architect Patrick Partouche. This container creation is much more detailed than many homes but shows that with a little bit of ingenuity someone can create something distinctive yet more eco-friendly in nature:
The Maison Container was built in 2010 and made from several cargo containers in a more traditional home style. This home has just over 2000 square feet of space and was made for around 200,000 euros. The containers were modified to join together and to create windows and doors where needed. This creative container property has contemporary furnishings and fittings.
A Starbucks café has also created a drive thru version built from containers. This is a very modern and contemporary style:
An affordable container home has been made in Costa Rica for around US $40,000. This is a minimalistic home. This is simplistic and tries to blend into the natural environment. Other homes though may not look so interesting or even appealing form the outside yet inside they are superb works of art. Design sometimes is concentrated on the interior when cost is important. Many designers now create furnishings and fittings especially for container homes and dwellings.
A colourful shipping container skyscraper has been created in London for below £50000 Pounds. This type of living is becoming really fashionable. For many years they just had one purpose now they are becoming multi-purpose and adaptable. In fact here near the 02 Arena is a whole community devoted to container living and is called Container City. The setting is in a Trinity Buoy Wharf. These are built up using a variety of bright colours and are a very noticeable landmark. There are 2 container stacks and around 70 people living there. Some people run their businesses as well from their container dwellings. Residents of these unusual multi-storey homes enjoy this way of living.
Attached Images:
- License: Creative Commons image source
Thanks to http://www.thorpebreaks.co.uk/ who sent us this list after being inspired by their hotel partner travelodge’s shipping container hotel (check out the video here).