Deceiving Shipping Container Home That Doesn’t Look Like One

If we hadn't told you this was a shipping container house, would you have known?? With a contemporary classic style, regular-looking facade and huge light-filled windows, this lovely home in Richmond, California, designed by Leger Wanaselja Architects, is a great example of the beautiful work that can done with shipping containers. You may like the industrial look of the container, but if you're into a more traditional look, this is the house for you! Check out the interior shots of this deceiving home - they give you a really good idea of the available space.

shipping container house, shipping containers, Leger Wanaselja Architects, green design, sustainable building

Built out of three insulated shipping containers and stacked on two levels with a two-story atrium in the middle, this home packs a lot into a small footprint. Coming in at only 1,350 sq feet, the home has three good sized bedrooms, and a large open living room which connects into the long kitchen and dining room. Two 40′ containers are stacked on top of each other serving as the master bedroom on top and a kitchen/dining area on the ground floor. The other container is cut in half and stacked to create two more bedrooms. Between the stacks is a large two story living area with floor to ceiling windows and a staircase and bridge to connect to the rooms upstairs.

Solar passively designed, deep roof eaves were used to protect from summer solar gain and operable windows were used to maximize ventilation. As the containers are already insulated, they act as weatherproof exterior siding, insulation, and structural frame. Insulation was only needed in the roof and flooring and framing was only done on interior walls and for the windows. Additional green features include the use of low VOC paints, a 100% wool carpet, bamboo flooring, a 50% flyash concrete foundation, blown-in cellulose insulation, stacked plumbing, roof rainwater collection, high efficiency lighting, solatubes, and a ton more green features which you can see here.

+ Leger Wanaselja Architects

Via Re-Nest

photo credits: Jan Grygier

5 Comments

john simmis October 18, 2010 at 10:46 am

If you are considering a modular or prefab home, building with containers is worth taking a look at.

Good resource is the the Residential Shipping Container Primer website. A SHOWCASE OF SHIPPING CONTAINER HOMES AND BUILDINGDS, AND A DO IT YOURSELF (DIY) REFERENCE FOR CONVERTING RECYCLED INTERMODAL CARGO SHIPPING CONTAINERS INTO BUILDINGS AND ARCHITECTURE.

http://www.ResidentialShippingContainerPrimer.com

Lots of great example buildings, details, facts, and links to other articles. They have something new that you can setup your own project wiki to get help with your project if you are considering a design build project.
manaadiar August 19, 2010 at 2:37 am

This is AMAZING.. The uses of shipping containers seem endless with new creative ideas coming up all the time.. Great work..

Regards
Hariesh Manaadiar
Visit my shipping blog @ http://shippinginsouthafrica.wordpress.com
George Runkle August 13, 2010 at 12:38 am

I like the house, and I’m curious, did you use insulated aluminum containers? Did it give you problems with assembly? I’ve been pushing using only the standard steel containers because I’ve worried about welding and cutting in the aluminum ones. Please check out our structural designs (I’m an engineer in this business not an architect): http://www.runkleconsulting.com
heatherllevin July 16, 2010 at 2:37 pm

If you’re interested in building with ISBUs, then you might want to check out our new book: Intro to Container Homes and Buildings.
http://tinyurl.com/2c76y5b

It’s almost 100 pages of tips for building with ISBU, and 20 houseplans (with build budgets).
aardvark1360 July 16, 2010 at 11:39 am

This is pretty cool. Seeing this was ‘put together’ in California, how would it fare in the midwest? What about total cost of this particular home?