A Container House is a HOME

Written by Brita Brookes | Marketing Coordinator

Fieldstone Architecture and Engineering is excited to be in the Design Development stages of a new custom home made partially with shipping containers. The proposed home, sited in a suburb of Metro Detroit, will utilize 2 shipping containers as part of the home's structure. Steel shipping container homes, also called storage container homes, offer a sustainable approach to building and housing.

These intermodal steel building units (ISBUs) are manufactured in a factory for use in the freight shipping industry. Research states that there can be approximately up to 30 million steel shipping containers in existence mostly at our world's ports. The units are usually 8 feet wide by 8.5 feet high and can be 20 to 40 feet long.

Depending on the complexity of the design, most homes made from shipping containers reap the owner benefits in both cost and in being sustainable design. The low cost of the containers, their modular nature, ease of being transported and the fact that they are recycled, supports the movement across the world to create architecture using shipping containers.

The proposed new home design, being done by Fieldstone's architectural team, features 2 shipping containers arranged parallel to each other with a middle area of fill space. The new house is being built on the existing home foundation which establishes the floor plan limits.

The owner purchased the property for the lot as the existing home on it was in disrepair and abandoned. The old home will be demolished above the base foundation, and the new shipping container home will be easily built on top and anchored to this existing foundation.

The 2 containers are joined together with new stick frame architecture and the entire home will be completed with an angled roof creating a long clerestory window at the roof line allowing for natural light to enter the home. New windows have been added to the walls of the containers at the front of the home and at the back of the home overlooking the yard. The majority of the container walls are untouched to preserve their structural integrity.

The middle portion of the home is aligned with the new entry door and tall foyer which leads to a large open living area adjacent to the kitchen. The home has two bedrooms and one bath.

The floor plan of the new home.

The back of the home in an alternate color scheme.

The kitchen and dining adjoin the living room area and get plenty of natural light from a large new front storefront window and the long clerestory above. By using the home's existing foundation, the home was able to preserve the large basement. The basement is accessed by a new set of stairs and the space allows for additional storage and living area.

The outdoor deck in the back of the home adds outdoor living space for parties, BBQ and outdoor dining during the season.

The home will be constructed using a crane and the shipping container modules will be carefully lowered onto the foundation and anchored. Then, the infill between the two containers will occur on site and the roof will then be placed completing the exterior envelope just in time for winter.

We invite you to stay tuned - we will post new photographs as this project progresses!

#ShippingContainerHomes #Sustainable