I’ll never forget a former design client I was working with who was determined to place some shipping containers on his tenth floor penthouse roof to make extra rooms for himself. I remember thinking he must be crazy! Why on earth would he want this? Well, in doing my research, I came across an entire shipping container culture. Many people are building homes and commercial properties with these simple, rectangular boxes. So today, I am going to share some of my favorite shipping container architecture!
Here are my top five picks of shipping container buildings across the world:
1. Shipping Container Guest House. San Antonio, Texas. How cool would it be to spend a weekend with these folks? Your very own shipping container guest house? You could check that one off your bucket list. This little gem has its own bathroom, tons of windows, and a sleek, contemporary design.
2. Shipping Container City. Cholula, Mexico. This shipping container shopping center features restaurants and bars, galleries, residences, and stores! It is painted colorfully, and has an eclectic spunk to it. There are lounge areas with ping-pong tables and places to relax. On weekends there are live bands that showcase in the common areas as well!
3. Shipping Container Holiday House. New Zealand. This vacation home was designed to close into a perfectly sealed box. When in use, the walls come down, and there are pull-out beds, a patio, and windows in tact!
4. Oceanscope Scenic Observatory, Songdo New City, Incheon, South Korea. These containers were placed at fixed angles, providing different views of one of the most popular harbors in the city. This architectural delight attracts tourists from all over the world.
5. Multi-Container House, Redondo Beach, California.This beachfront property is built with eight fabricated shipping containers. One of the coolest attributes to this home, is that one of the containers was converted into a swimming pool!
