Creative Shipping Container Houses
Ever step outside, see how hot (or cold) it is, and wish you were still indoors? Well, the front entry to the inner of these housing structures does just that – it opens up to a larger warehouse-like, glass-and-metal structure structure, rather than right into into the wider world. Across the way? No neighbors, per se. Instead: a series of nine shipping containers form a stark contrast to the traditional white siding, brown shingles and standard-sized windows of the core house.
The result is reminiscent of a life sized dollhouse, complete with rooms that open to the viewer, whether said viewer is standing outside looking in through the glass facade or within the atrium-style living room beyond these nine volumes. This particular project appears to be a single-family home, given the lack of privacy.
But architect Adam Kalkin did not stop there – he also sliced a home-shaped hole in the metal siding of the surrounding prefab, creating an abstract symbol of what one can expect to find inside (complete with a exterior chimney tower for function and effect).
Another in the same series of strange rental properties is this multi-unit set of vacation homes – a retreat within a retreat, if you will. A long metal barn lets natural light in on both ends via a fully-glazed front and back, but inside is another story. A series of individual container compartments provide privacy for residents, raised up to the second story, while main-level spaces and carved-out shipping containers serve as communal gathering, cooking and working areas.
Kalkin’s shipping container creations are more than a little unusual, playful and fun — especially when they transform and fold up, like this wacky project. Another house-within-a-house, the shipping container volume contains a bedroom, living room and dining room that pack tightly together when closed or can be opened up for access within a larger space.