Dwellings fashioned out of used intermodal shipping
containers continue to spread into new places. Their spread is slowed by
the resistance of many
cities to altering their building codes. Another thing that is probably slowing
their use is that they are butt ugly!
A three story home made of five stacked containers,
said to be the first in
finally won approval for occupancy this February. Even though these homes are
classified as ‘prefab’, they really don’t fit into the modular, manufactured or
prefab housing industry.
It was built by an architecture professor and her contractor
husband after their initial plans to build on the 20-by-40 foot site began to
look too expensive. A tiny conventional structure was coming in at almost
$500,000; the shipping container home cost only $300,000 to build, they say,
plus another $100,000 for costs incurred by having to wait and struggle for the
approval from the Department of Buildings. It looks charming inside.
It better look charming inside because this home is only
one step away from something you would see in the slums of a third world
country.
