We are very excited today to have a guest author to the Saner Container. This author not only lives in a container home, he has shown it to the world on MTV’s “Cribs”. Sam Glassberg presented his home on “Cribs”, showing off the versatility and eco-friendly aspects of their shipping container home. Now he has shared some of his experiences with the Saner Container.
As a film and television student, being on a real television show was probably one of the most rewarding experiences of my entire life. It was also created one of the most awkward experiences of my entire life when a complete stranger came up to me in my college’s dining hall and said “I saw you on Cribs. I really liked your house”. Awkward for me because, well, I think that would be pretty awkward for anybody, but also amazing because I realized that people I don’t even know and didn’t tell to watch (probably the most I’ve tweeted or facebooked in my entire life) appreciate what my mom created.
I live in a house made of shipping containers. Weird. It’s a bit like a circus at times with the amount of people stopping to look at it on the street, and the amount of tours I’ve had to give, but I really love it. At first the idea seemed a bit crazy, but now it’s bizarrely normal. The house is composed of concrete, 5 shipping containers, glass, and metal and is truly a work of modern architecture. With geothermal heating, passive solar heating and lighting, and other recycled materials it’s also a house that gives back to the environment. It’s a structure to be envied by all, and luckily for those who envy it, it will soon be available for everybody to have.
Living room dining room and hall
In collaboration with local Kansas City architecture firm BNIM, my mother has begun creating new living, working, and retail spaces that will be available and affordable for nearly anybody. While my house is perfect in my eyes, new designs and configurations of this prefab design are going to be released in many different forms. It’s bespoke living. Studio apartments, dorm rooms, vegan restaurants, and boutique hotels are all ideas my mom had that are about to become a reality. If you can dream it, Debbie Glassberg and BNIM can build it.
For pictures and more information on Sam’s house, check out some of these links, pictures – and of course the MTV video:
KMBC, Kansas City’s ABC affiliate, ran a series on the Glassberg’s home. Follow their home being built:
You have used containers at work or during building a home. You love to hunt. You don’t have a cabin on your land. Enter – the connex box. Drop a container on your land, add in a door and some windows and you have a perfect hunting retreat. Whether it is just a basic spot to base camp, or a complete man-cave, conex boxes offer all the flexibility and ruggedness to be a perfect hunting cabin.
You can insulate them, add in heat (or cooling, or both), add in features that make the cabin perfect for you. It might be the ultimate get-away cabin for the guys or it might be a snug, welcoming place to bring your kids and grandchildren to teach them how to hunt.
Here is a series of my new favorite hunting cabin. I got these by email from a colleague. If you know anything more about this cabin, please let me know!
So you want a container. You know it needs to be insulated, but what exactly will fit your needs? Containers come in two styles – standard shipping container and refrigerator (reefer) containers. Here are some general rules of thumb that might be helpful.
1) Refrigerator containers are ideal when you need to store items at a particular temperature year round and you have a power source to run the container. They are considerably more expensive than standard containers, which may play a role in your decision-making.
Inside refrigerator container
2) If you are storing general items, the standard containers are great. Standard containers are used around the world, year round for transporting the vast majority goods manufactured year round.
3) If you are modifying the container, standard containers are much preferred to refrigerator containers. Refrigerator containers have loose insulation between two walls, which makes modifications a huge headache. Also, if you are using the container for living space, you will be very disappointed with a refrigerator container floor. They are grooved to drain any liquid away from items being stored. While that is great if the container isn’t plugged in and you are storing ice cream. It is not as great if you want to live in the container.
Inside used 40'
One other consideration for those who are modifying containers – if you plan on adding electricity or plumbing, you will want to insulate the container once you have added those and done all your modifications.
If you still have questions about which is the right one for you, please call us and we can discuss your needs further.
According to Stuff.co.nz, storage containers have been used in the “Restart the Heart” program to reopen retail shops destroyed in the city’s earthquake. Containers were used for various retail shops, including clothing, a wine store, a café and bar.
CaffeineLaboratory - a container cafe
Rather than plunking down containers, the group has used brought in Christchurch architects from the Australasian Buchan Group to create unique configurations to suit the needs of the shops. In addition,
containers have been used to prop up buildings, including the cathedral and for various offices, homes, etc.
Also, a group is creating art on and over containers, seeing them at a large canvas new to the city.
TheVillageGrape - a cargo wine shop
For more information, check out the coverage from Stuff and 3 News.
Do you have a talent that is big, and also takes up a lot of space? Do you daydream about having your own studio? Does your current home not provide you the space you need? How about a storage container?
Cargotecture Studio 320 by hybridarc.com
Storage containers can be converted into stand-alone buildings, perfect for an artist studio or workshop. Depending on how much space you have, containers come in 20’ and 40’ long, 8’ wide. You can insulate them and modify them to allow natural light, insulation, electricity, easy access and anything else that helps you be more creative.
Containers can be placed on your land near your existing home. Depending on how much of a do-it-yourself-er you are, you can either have a container modified to meet your needs or order a container and kits to modify it yourself. Common medications include personnel door, roll-up door, windows, skylights, AC/heat, insulation. If you do the modifications yourself, you will need to be able to weld. You can have an electrician bring more light (and the possibility of the internet) to your studio. Put your creative energies into planning out the perfect space for you.
Finish off the container inside and you have a great studio
Since this is not primary residence, you do not have to include plumbing unless you want to. And you can find creative lighting solutions that do not require an electrician. Many container modifications are DIY. Ask us for advice or installation kits.
Container artist studios get your supplies out of the way of your everyday living and into a space devoted just to your art. No more packing them up and trying to get them out of the way, but rather leave projects out so you can come back to them again easily. Start planning yours today!
Container architecture is taking off by leaps and bounds, but for a basic office, nothing could be easier than a container office! Here are 5 great things about container offices:
1) Container offices are portable. Even if you don’t need to move the office often, you at least have the option with a container office. Maybe you just need offices during your busy season, but don’t need that office space the rest of the year.
2) Container offices are ground-level. Traditional mobile offices are set on wheels. When the office gets to the new location, you have to deal with stairs, anchoring and skirting the office. None of that is necessary with a container office. You set it down and get to work!
Inside a 2-room container office
3) Container offices are customizable. Containers start out as a basic box that is 20’ or 40’ long. You decide how to split up that space, where to add windows and doors, what kind of electric set-up meets your needs, even if you want the whole space to be office or a mix of storage and office space. You can make the most of the space that works best for you.
4) Container offices can be changed after you get them. Do you need more space? It is easy to add another container. Need more rooms? You can add in more partitions very easily.
5) Container offices can be resold. Sure you can sell a building to someone else. But you need to find a buyer who wants your set up in your location. With container offices, you just need someone who wants what you already built. You just move it to where they want.
Inside a container office
Consider container offices when you are looking at your office needs.
Coming up next time on our blog: What to think about when planning your container office.
Don’t forget our Super Sale! Click here or see below for various specials we are running right now.
Containers move. Containers make great, green, building blocks. But what about containers making great, gree building blocks that move? Well, for those of you who want to take your container building on the road, we have some ideas for you!
La Boite's open design
Container Café
Austin, TX is known for doing things their own way and food trailers, enter a great combination of both – La Boite café. It is a movable restaurant made from a 20’ container. The café incorporates green practices, down to the spray insulation in the container. Not only is it a fun, clean design, they have really maximized the space available to them to make an inviting café. Check out these links for pictures of how they made the café, what it looks like now and more information on the spray insulation. Spray insulation is a great option when using building with containers. The insulation can get into the corrugation to provide extra insulation throughout and is also a great way to control the r-factor of the insulation without having to give up interior space in the container.
Micro-living
Cargotecture in Menlo Park
HyBrid Architecture’s Cargotecture series is a wonderful example of micro-living. Bringing designs down to smaller sized structures idea for remote areas such as cabins, backyard retreats or offices or anywhere you want to have a temporary or permanent structure. They were recently in the news for partnering up with Sunset to becomeSunset’s Cargotecture® home. HyBrid is really doing things right with these efficient designs that can are mobile, easy to install and come in a range of sizes to fit various budgets and needs.
Mobile Wildlife Clinic
Dwyer Technical Services designed a wildlife heath care for Massey University. The unit is made from a 40’ container and is a mobile unit that can move to where oil spills affect wildlife. The mobility allows experts to reach wildlife quickly and onsite, making it that much easier to help animals in need. Dwyer Technical Services announced their first international export – to Maritime New Zealand, where a similar unit will help Australian wildlife.
Containers are becoming a more common office for more and more workers. But we mostly think about those offices on jobsite or other places where the offices are mobile. Here are 2 examples of some more unusual offices:
World Rally containers have many uses
1) Mobile rally car shop and mobile team headquarters. The teams for the World Rally Championship use shipping containers as their shops, as well as other items they need for their hospitality teams when they get to their location. They transport their marketing materials so they can create their own unique space at the rallies.
Each team has their own area which can move with them throughout the season.
Character Project container theater
2) Theaters. We have not one, but two examples of using containers as theaters.
USA’s Character Project has traveling storage containers that are modified to be a full movie theaters that are customized to fit the films they are showing. They are screening 8 original short films in various cities throughout the country.
Cardiff is getting its own 40’ storage container theater for the play The Container. It is a play that explores the journey of Somali and Afganistani refugees coming to the UK for asylum. The container-theater is one component in bringing the story home to theatergoers.
3) Radio station studio. Radio Free Libya in Masrata has outfitted a container as a studio for guests who cannot come to the radio station’s offices for security reasons.
Containers are a great option for any mobile space. They can be modified easily, moved easily and are flexible enough to turn into whatever you can imagine.
Taking a cargo container and turning it into something else – living quarters, emergency relief shelters/centers, storm shelters, etc, is a very popular idea. You can picture what you want it to look like in the end, but how do you get started on your project?
Inside a refrigerator/insulated container
1) Standard or Insulated/refrigerated? Containers come in either standard steel box or insulated/refrigerated box. In order to pick the best one for you, think about what you are going to do with it. If you are going to modify it (add doors, windows, or any other cut outs), then steer clear of the refrigerated/insulated containers. They are difficult to modify due to the loose insulation in between the container walls. Standard steel containers can easily be framed and insulated to provide the necessary insulation once your other modifications are done.
Cargo-worthy containers can handle being stacked
2) Shipping overseas or not? If you are shipping the container overseas, then you will want to plan your modifications accordingly. Containers that are being shipped on cargo ships must be cargo-worthy or sea-worthy, meaning they are structurally sound enough to handle having other container stacked on top of them. If you cut up a container, you reduce the structural integrity of the container, so you want to make sure you are keeping that in mind with your plans, or plan on modifying the container once it arrives at its destination.
Open-top 40' container has a tarp roof
3) Is there a container already designed for your need? There are specialty containers – containers without a top or with removable steel top, 20’ containers with doors that open the full 20’ side of the container or flat-racks, containers that have no long walls or roofs. While these containers are generally more expensive than standard containers, you may find that they fit your need so well; it is worth the extra money. However, be warned that some of these containers are not all that plentiful, so you may also end up paying for shipping long distances.
20' open side container opens on one full 20' side of container
4) How complicated is your design? If you are planning on creating a home or living quarters complete with electric and plumbing, stacked containers or other complications, be sure to get an architect or engineer involved. Even though containers make great building blocks, you are still creating a living space that needs to be safe and up to code. They may up with structural issues you have not considered which can save you headaches down the line.
5) Are you doing to modify the container yourself or have it done? Containers are easy to modify yourself if you have the right tools. Primarily, it requires a cutter and welding tools and the know-how to go with them. Kits are available for adding on basic additions like doors, windows, AC/heat, skylights, etc.
40' office and storage
If you don’t want the hassle of doing the work, have it done for you by a qualified container shop. Then your container can arrive ready to go (or at least part-way there) depending on what your plans entail.
Containers are incredibly flexible building blocks. Let your imagination loose to come up with fun ideas. Share them with us! Or share pictures of projects you have already done to inspire others!
Containers provide a secure, easy way to install a temporary building just about anywhere. They are easy to modify to personalize to your needs. Some uses include:
Any time you need a roof over your head – quickly.
Container buildings can be as fancy or as basic as you want. Currently they are a popular, green building material in the architectural world. But they can also be as basic is throwing a door and window on a container and calling it the office.
A couple of things to think about while you plan
Large shop made with containers stacked 2-high to accomodate trucks and containers
1) Do you need an architect or engineer? If this is housing and you are removing large portions of the container or you are stacking modified containers, then YES. Don’t risk it, make sure your plan will work once you pull that wall off the container and avoid disaster. If you are living in the container, you will still need electricity, plumbing and all the other features you expect from a tradition building. That takes some know-how.
2) To insulate or buy insulated? As a general rule of thumb, only get an insulated container if you are using it to keep something at a steady temperature. If you are modifying it, get a non-insulated container. Insulated containers are expensive and very hard to modify. Save your wallet and a headache by modifying a standard container and insulating once that is done. Don’t forget to insulate the flooring and roof!
Inside the shop
3) Modify yourself or have someone else do it? If you can weld, doing some easy modifications yourself is a great way to save money. Use container modification kits to add doors, windows, skylights, AC/Heat or other basic additions. If you have more complicated modifications – taking out container walls and adding in extra support, adding in industrial flooring, etc – bring in the pros. These are headaches or possible structural problems you don’t want to handle on your own. Have a container shop take care of doing that for you.
You are only limited by your imagination – and the laws of physics – in coming up with the container building of your dreams.
