Fabricated steel shipping container houses have seen a huge surge in popularity in recent years. Prefabricated modular homes or shipping containers make for a fantastic economic option for building a compact cosy house, guesthouse or holiday retreat. Prefabricated houses have actually been around since as early as the 16th century, and were perfected in the 20th century by the Japanese. Now you can find shining examples of ready-built, fabricated steel houses all around the world with an unprecedented degree of style and affordability.

It’s estimated that there are over 20 million unused shipping containers scattered across the world waiting to be re-purposed for living. While a steel box may not sound as though it would make for a comfortable home, a little creativity and engineering prowess can go a long way. Here are 7 amazing shipping container houses that prove just this.

Who says houses need to be built from bricks, wood and concrete and should cost upward of a million dollars? Here are 7 absolutely amazing fabricated steel shipping container houses.

The Container Guest House – Poteet Architects

Although this little steel shack clocks in at just 320 square feet, it looks pretty damn cosy. Especially as a warm, wood-panelled guest house to place in your backyard. This old shipping container is just 8 feet wide and 40 feet long, which is just enough space to squeeze in a foldout bed, some chairs, a sink and bathroom. The best feature though is the roof-mounted garden space. Check out some more images here.

Zigloo Domestique Complete – Keith Dewey

A little bigger in scale, the Zigloo Domestique Complete is a fully-equipped shipping container home – one of the first to be built in Canada. The home was built using eight different 20-foot containers and a whole bunch of recycled materials, which saved upwards of 70 trees in the building process. Inside, you wouldn’t know you’re inside a heap of steel containers stacked on top of each other, with modern fit-outs and appliances. Check out the interiors here.

The Caterpillar House – Sebastián Irarrázaval Arquitectos

This beauty sits on a rocky hillside in Chile, just outside Santiago. Although made from 12 shipping containers, it could easily be mistaken for a multi-million dollar mansion. It features a passive ventilation system that utilises the natural air-flow from the gully below to cool the house, rendering electronic air-conditioning unnecessary. The interiors and bridging components are very steel-heavy, lending a sleek modern feel inside.

Manifesto House – James and Mau Arquitectura

Another Chilean beauty, the Manifesto House is a little more obscure than other examples of fabricated steel houses. The facade is covered by recycled wooden pallets to shield the walls from the sun and keep warm air in during winter. Despite its size, it only uses three shipping containers, spaced apart and joined with glass sheets and other materials to give it a vast open-plan feel. It’s also mainly solar powered.

Container Studio – Maziar Behrooz Architecture

This two-story art studio sits nestled next to a house in the woods of the Long Island, New York. Built with a budget of just $60,000, it’s a space built for inspiration and reflection, with high ceilings, a smaller reflection space and a viewing platform. The charcoal exterior matches the main house and helps the space blend into the surrounding woodlands.

Cove Park – Edo Architecture

Cove Park is an artist retreat perched on a loch in Rosneath Peninsula, Scotland. This structure is part of a much larger, 50-acre complex that hosts creatives from all over the world. It utilises refurbished shipping containers with stunning views for artists to rent and get busy creating in.

Old Lady House – Adam Kalkin

Nestled on a picturesque wooded hillside in New Jersey is the oddly named Old Lady House, a magnificent two-story place made almost entirely from shipping containers. The key here is the use of the natural slope of the hill to give the house height, and a clever bridging courtyard to give it depth. The lower section is the made from six containers and serves as the main house; the upper side contains just three. Both are retrofitted with amazing fabricated steel beams, and the walls are covered by beautiful dry wall, so the ribbed steel of the containers is completely covered.

The depth of creativity that steel fabrication can inspire in architecture is truly incredible. Steel Fabrication Services are proud to work in range of fields in the steel industry, from steel detailing and drafting, steel installation and delivery, installing steel stairs and working with structural steel.

If you need professional advice from a steel fabricator, or to get a steel quote from us, contact us here, because no one knows steel like we do.

If you’re as interested in steel as we are, have a read of our article on how steel is made.