The relatively cheap shipping container is a good foundation for a strong, mobile, and post-apocalyptic home. In the last two decades, architects have been incorporating shipping containers into everything from schools to houses — for aesthetic reasons, but also out of economic necessity. Here are some of their most eye-catching creations.


Crossbox House, by CG Architectes Pont-Péan, France, 2009


Two black containers on the ground floor and two green ones are on the second floor, but there is a roof garden terrace, too.

(via tangia.vn)

Sculp(IT): Live/Work, Antwerpen, Belgium, 2008


The almost 8 feet wide (2.4 m) wide house has four wooden floors for various uses: downstairs for work, dining on the first, relaxing on second, sleeping on third, and the roof is for enjoying the view from the big bathtub.

(via Archinect, photos by Luc Roymans)

Adriance House by Adam Kalkin, somewhere in Northern Maine, USA, 2012


This building combines twelve containers, has two steel staircases and a really magnificent glass structure. It covers almost 4000 sq. feet (372 sq. meters)

(via Let Me Be Inspired)

Cove Park, Scotland, by Urban Space Management, 2002 and 2006


The six containers topped with grass are located in West Scotland, near Loch Long. They were built in only three days by London-based Urban Space Management. These places are homes for the artists and other visitors to Cove Park, which is an international center for the arts and creative industries.

(via inhabitat)

A solar-powered house by Studio H:T, Nederland, Colorado, 2010


Two big shipping containers were attached to the space in the middle. This 1517 sq ft home (140 sqm) has three bedrooms, solar powered electronics, passive cooling and pellet stove for heating. One of the containers includes two bedrooms and a bathroom, and the other has the kitchen, the office and the laundry room.


(via busyboo)

Redondo Beach House, by Peter DeMaria Design, Redondo Beach, California, 2008


It's a real luxury home from eight containers, with a big artist's studio, great living room with 20 ft high ceiling, and a huge amount of plywood. Want!

(via igreenspot and Eco Container Home)

WFH House, Wuxi, China, by Arcgency, 2013


The simple house, made of three containers, has a green roof and is covered in bamboo.

(via Jetson Green)

Maison Container Lille, Lille, France, by Progeco Dunkirk and Patric Partouche, 2010


The two-story red house was built in only three days from eight containers, plus wood, metal, polycarbonate, glass and terracotta.

(via busyboo)

London Container City, by Urban Space Management, London, UK from 2001


"It's like the TARDIS: actually a lot bigger inside than it looks from outside," said Becky McGahern, who lives in one of these homes with her partner. The Container City is a series of really cheap shipping container homes installed in London in 2001.

(via Wikipedia)

The Manifesto House, by James & Mau and Infiniski, Curacaví, Chile, 2009


The eco-friendly Chilean house has a cool wood-slatted exterior and mobile pallets in three containers. There are solar covers on walls and roof, and 85% of the house is made from recycled (cellulose, aluminum, iron, wood and cork), eco-friendly (ecological paintings, eco-label ceramics) and re-used materials.

(via Design Milk)