This message has been cross posted to the following Discussion Forums: Young Architects Forum and Committee on the Environment .
-------------------------------------------
I once studied the feasibility of using shipping containers in one of the projects I was working on and it led me to appreciate the potential these steel boxes offer. I mean it's natural right- I don't know how many empty shoe boxes are on active duty in my household...its just a step up :)
There are a lot of interesting examples of how architects have used shipping containers to their advantage. A while back I wrote a blog and started a discussion about it and I think many of you who are interested in the topic will find the discussion useful. Here are the links:
http://www.archisage.net/profiles/blogs/shipping-container http://www.archisage.net/forum/topics/shipping-containers-and Here's some more text from the discussion thread mentioned above:
Shipping containers have a few things going for them -
Reuse is 'green'. we import more than we export and hence have a good stock of shipping containers. Steel is highly recyclable and all these containers will probably be reused or recycled in some form, still, reuse is more energy efficient than recycling and that's what makes their use 'cool' in architecture.
Construction and modular are friends . starting from bricks, CMU, 2x4s, aluminum composite panels...and so on. Shipping containers are cheap and modular. Though I understand that some people may dislike shipping containers for exactly the same reasons.
There are practical issues. I don't see any point in using shipping containers if I have to modify the crap out of them just to make them fit in a project. so they are good for some projects and not so good for others. They are strong and watertight but not designed as a habitable space. None of the shipping container supplier/manufacturer will warranty them against water leakage when used in construction. They are limited in height and lighting/HVAC needs to be designed with that restriction. what about wet areas that need to be sloped? How do you accommodate a shower stall in a universal(ADA) design? How to make sure that the roof and floor and walls meet the structural code requirements?
It requires a lot of research upfront before you can use it in a project and the cost of doing that cannot be justified if you want to use it for just one project. I believe that's why we have firms that specialize in container architecture. There may be exceptions. The scale of the project and willingness on part of the client may make it work.
Shipping containers are made for shipping and they do that job well. The challenge and the thrill lies in taking something like that and make it work for a completely different use. Looking at some existing examples (see comments on my blog post) shipping containers may be transformed into a really good design, even when they are just 'stacked up' like the Freitag Store in Zurich. I think context can be a very powerful statement. Not to mention that you need a very sympathetic client to propose something like that - or a damn good speaker! or both. -------------------------------------------
Vishal Charles AIA
-------------------------------------------