Sheltainer - Modular Shipping Container Housing Project, Cairo, Egypt

Massing Build Up

Sustainability

Mouaz Abouzaid, Bassel Omara and Ahmed Hammad, architects based in the United Arab Emirates, designed a modular housing project made of shipping containers for Cairo, Egypt. Nicknamed "Sheltainer", the project aims to help meet the demand for low-income housing for students and refugees. The proposal structures the daily life of its residents around single family units capable of meeting all the needs of a small family.




Sheltainer seeks to serve refugees, exiles, students, and low-income families through standard 6-meter containers, associated with smaller, 3-meter, and larger, 12-meter units employed in the structures. Individual residential units are combined into a cluster, forming a small set of 8 houses around a courtyard. The units can be adapted to different environments. The team initially highlighted two countries that could receive the project: Syria, where more than half of the population was displaced, and South Sudan, where the refugee population increased from 854,100 to over 1.4 million during the second half. 2016. The team rethought the project for Egypt, looking for a way to help solve that country's housing problem.

“Home is not a place, it is a feeling. People are connected to their homeland. Growing up in an environment with family and friends fuels people's souls with a promising future. But being forced to leave home due to hunger, the economy or even politics creates insecurity. Twenty people are displaced by the minute, and providing a stable community that can handle these problems and rapid change becomes an imminent challenge", the architects say.

Shipping Container Low-Cost Single-Family Home, Peru

Floor plans

About TRS Studio

Design	TRS Studio
Containers	2
Location	Pachacutec, Ventanilla, Región Callao, Perú
Photos	Niall Patrick Walsh

TRS Studio developed a project for low-cost housing in Peru's Callao region. The shipping container single-family home is based on a 40 ft containers and is constructed of sturdy materials that involve low cost and low environmental impact. The project depends on community participation and aims to improve the quality of health and housing in the Pesquero II settlement through sustainable materials and techniques.

The project began with a study of the types of houses in the area, concluding that the basic structure should not be too invasive and that the materials should be easy to maintain and inexpensive. The result was the adaptation of a series of ISO 40 ft containers with a total area of ​​60 square meters using locally recycled wood.




The shipping container home is designed as two volumes, one above the other. The upper volume contains a social area and kitchen, while the other houses the private space. Interiors have natural light through openings in the ceiling.

The project was designed for a family of four and can be transformed into new spaces according to the family's needs.

The choice of materials was based on the specifics to the project. OSB recycled wood boards are made from wood shavings, an environmentally friendly, economical, versatile and durable material. This type of panel is resistant to deformation and offers excellent acoustic and thermal insulation. Recycled polycarbonate plates have also been incorporated into the design, and have a 20 year life span. The material has a high resistance to various weather conditions and temperature variations, while its transparency makes it applicable to facades, skylights and roofs.

Shipping Container Homes, Buildings and Structures by LOT-EK

C-Home

Whitney Studio

The Cubes

Drivelines Studios

Carroll House

Sanlitun South

APAP OpenSchool

Qiyun Mountain Camp

About LOT-EK - Architecture
About Silman - Structural Engineering

Foster Residence - Beautiful 3000 sqft 5 Bedroom Shipping Containers Home, Denver, Colorado

We really wanted to build something unique and creative but more importantly, we wanted to build a space that was designed to host gatherings as community and connection with friends and family is very important to us - Regan and Libby Foster, owners and general contractors.

Construction Process
Contact Info
About BlueSky Studio

Project	Foster Residence
Architecture	Joe Simmons, BlueSky Studio
Owners and general contractors	Regan and Libby Foster
Bedrooms	5
Bathrooms	3.5
Area	3000 sq ft
Containers	9
Project Cost	$500,000
Location	Denver, Colorado
Year	2010

Making a house out of shipping containers sounds easy enough: Just snap up a few neglected boxes from a local junk dealer, rack ’em and stack ’em, and create a bit of old-school prefab magic.

But recycling the detritus of global shipping has its complications. Like how to turn corrugated steel boxes that measure an awkward eight feet wide and 40 feet long into something cozy enough to call home. Or how to keep their metal floors from vibrating when you walk on them, or prevent the chemicals they are treated with from being released into the air. Or, perhaps most important, how to assemble it all so it doesn’t look like you live in the storage yard of the local port authority.




Luckily, Regan Foster likes a challenge. He’s an extreme DIYer and, until recently, a firefighter, the kind of guy who is used to working 24-hour shifts and given to starting his day with a plunge into an outdoor ice bath. The house he designed and built with his wife, Libby, located just outside the Denver city line in Adams County, harnesses nine shipping containers into a 3,000-square-foot structure that’s meant to be shared with friends and neighbors. "We believe community and family are a strong part of living a life well-spent," Regan says.

In all, the house has five bedrooms and three and a half bathrooms, and an in-law suite with a separate entrance where Libby’s mother lives. Four of the containers are placed on the ground—side-by-side in pairs set 24 feet apart—to form the first floor. Another four are stacked above them, some shifted forward, to create a cantilevered second story. The ninth container sits perpendicular at the back of the second level to form a U-shape. The house is enclosed in front with a conventionally framed wall and on top with a flat roof supported by exposed joists.