In less than four hours, a construction team managed to build a two-story house out of six 45-foot-long shipping containers.
The building, located in New Haven, Conn., was designed by Christian Salvati and Edsel Ramirez of Marengo Structures. The apartments cost $360,000 to build, and Salvati purchased the lot for $22,500 from Hill Development Corporation.
Jetson Green reports that Salvati hopes that he will see a large decrease in cost as he builds more shipping container homes, once the economy of scale becomes applicable.
The builders moved the containers to the construction site on flatbed trucks, then used a crane to put them in place. Holes for doors and windows and some of the interior walls to make rooms were cut out prior to construction.
Here's a photo recap of the project:
A concrete foundation, approximately 45 times stronger than the foundation used in the construction of standard houses, was laid prior to construction as well.
While the front of the house is fitted with a wooden facade that matches other houses in the neighborhood, the gray exterior sidewalls are still visible. Salvati left the container's original doors in place, and they now swing out to create the sides of the rear back porch.
The home has two separate apartments. Students are currently renting out the downstairs apartment, and Salvati uses the upstairs apartment when he vists New Haven. Inside, the apartments don't look like they're built from shipping containers.
The interiors have sheetrock walls and ceiling; the floors are made of poured and polished concrete. While heated by baseboard hot water heaters, the home also has radiant floors. Air conditioners, ventilators and ceiling fans have been installed for cooling. Finally, the walls are insulated with six inches of soy-based sprayed cellulose.
Related Stories
| Oct 19, 2011
THOUGHT LEADER: Samuel S. Unger, RA, MCR, SLCR, MBA, is the Americas Real Estate Leader for Ernst & Young, LLP
Samuel S. Unger, RA, MCR, SLCR, MBA, is the Americas Real Estate Leader for Ernst & Young, LLP, Atlanta. He also serves as president of the CoreNet Global Atlanta chapter. In addition to managing 6.8 million square feet of real estate in North and South America, his responsibilities include real estate strategy for area practices, management of external professional alliances, requirements definition, business case development and approval, real estate negotiation and lease development, and oversight of construction projects for the portfolio. He holds a bachelor’s degree from Harvard College, an MLA and MArch from the University of Pennsylvania, and an MBA from Temple University.
| Oct 19, 2011
Another drop for Architecture Billings Index
Positive conditions seen last month were more of an aberration.
| Oct 19, 2011
System for installing grease duct enclosures achieves UL listing
Updated installation results in 33% space savings.
| Oct 18, 2011
Michel Bruneau wins 2012 AISC T.R. Higgins Award
The AISC T.R. Higgins Lectureship Award is presented annually by the American Institute of Steel Construction (AISC) and recognizes an outstanding lecturer and author whose technical paper(s) are considered an outstanding contribution to the engineering literature on fabricated structural steel.
| Oct 18, 2011
Dow Building Solutions invests in two research facilities to deliver data to building and construction industry
State-of-the-art monitoring system allows researchers to collect, analyze and process the performance of wall systems.
| Oct 18, 2011
Architectural leaders join Gehry to form strategic alliance
Alliance dedicated to transforming the building industry through technology.
| Oct 18, 2011
St. Martin’s Episcopal School expands facilities
Evergreen commences construction on environmentally sustainable campus expansion.
| Oct 17, 2011
THOUGHT LEADER: Allan Bilka, Senior Staff Architect and Secretariat to the IGCC
Allan Bilka, RA, is a Senior Staff Architect and Secretariat to the International Green Construction Code (IgCC) with the International Code Council, based in the ICC’s Chicago district office. He also serves as staff liaison to the ICC-700 National Green Building Standard. He has written several ICC white papers on green building and numerous green-related articles for the ICC. A registered architect, Bilka has over 30 years of combined residential design/build and commercial consulting engineering experience.
| Oct 17, 2011
Austin's newest urban apartment complex under construction
Complex sits on a four-acre waterfront site along Lady Bird Lake with spectacular city and lake views, and is slated to open spring 2013.
