Thinking out of the box with containers
Various uses of shipping containers
The concept of finding alternative materials to build homes is nothing new. It is as old as humankind itself and the innovative spirit seem to be continuing to this day. If nobody believes this then all they have to do is look at shipping containers which have been converted into buildings. In this day and age with so many people facing foreclosures on their dream homes, more and more people are looking into alternative ideas to make themselves a livable space. This why in a nut shell, shipping containers are being seriously looked at as an alternative to traditional style homes or even office quarters.
Interestingly, the concept of using containers as livable/workable space is not new. It goes back at least to the early 1980’s or even before. In many third world countries, poor people started using discarded shipping containers to live in. Except in those cases, the inside of the containers were not necessarily converted into relatively nice livable homes. The idea was simple, people saw a large, abandoned, empty space with a roof over it and went ahead and moved in. And lo and behold, the container home was born. Slowly but surely, the idea made it overseas, and before anyone knew it containers became a serious contender for an alternative to conventional homes and offices. In today’s economy this is hardly surprising.
The following are some examples of how shipping containers are being used.
SchoolsTemporary office spaceBunk housesArt studiosMilitary housingEmergency shelterStorage housesHowever, if you are thinking about using containers in this manner, you are likely to meet a few obstacles. They are not difficult to overcome but you must be prepared to deal with it. The first one would most likely be building codes. The building codes of many cities just have not gotten used to the idea of using containers as a serious housing option. This means some extra paper work may need to be done to get it approved.
The next problem has to do with the mindsets of people. Communities may show some resistance towards installing shipping containers in their neighborhood. The mentality will be “great idea but not in my neighborhood.” Lot of times this sort of problem has more to do with local politics than anything else. Therefore, it is possible to overcome this problem. The good news is that the media is giving this whole concept plenty of attention, which means more and more people down the road should accept the idea of container homes.
