As we've discussed here before, trading ships used to leave American east coast cities loaded up with goods and bound for Europe. They'd return loaded up with cobblestones--cheap, heavy, easily stackable--for ballast. They'd then ditch the stones here, load up with more goods, rinse and repeat. And our municipal forefathers used the cobblestone surplus to pave streets on the cheap.
From a surplus perspective, the modern-day equivalent to cobblestones is shipping containers, even though the trade balances have shifted. America receives tons of stuff from Asia in shipping containers, and once emptied, they're not worth the price of shipping them back. And as these things stack up, creative companies try to figure out what to do with them.
Most recently we've seen the Snoozebox shipping container mobile hotel, though that's a UK-based project. Stateside, we've got a company out of Texas called Falcon Containers that's doing something similar, but without the concierge: A mobile village for oil field workers in Texas' burgeoning Eagle Ford Shale.
"We wanted to design and provide a housing solution that would be cost effective, easy to set up and easy to move," said Stephen Shang, CEO, Falcon Containers. "The use of repurposed shipping containers in our mobile village design allows for the inclusion of unique structures for different purposes, each of which supports a comfortable living environment for these oil field work camp employees."
Temporary work camps have been created in growing numbers to support the overwhelmingly male workforce flooding into the oil drilling Texas region. A cross between a college dormitory and a military barracks, these structures include sleeper units housing multiple bunks, dining facilities, a separate laundry and shower unit as well as a multi-purpose office, recreation or first aid facility.
Some unsolicited advice for Falcon's PR team: Can you guys maybe call it something other than a "work camp?" What happened, was "gulag" already taken?
In addition to their forthcoming mobile village design, Falcon repurposes shipping containers as offices, residential homes, and even military training facilites. Learn more at Falcon's comprehensive blog on all things shipping container related.
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Comments
TO Ries - I disagree with your assessment of container structures. As I'm typing this now, I'm sitting in a 2500 sq ft office built out of 8 shipping containers. It looks & feels industrial, but it's very human scaled. It's not too hot or too cold (and trust me it gets very hot in Texas). Your assessment of 2 to 3X the cost is way off as well. We saved about 30-50% over a traditional office structure in building this out. Best of all, it's highly relocatable and modular so if our needs change, we can quickly change our office structure to fit them. If you're ever in Austin, come on out and I'll give you a tour.
You can see the renderings at http://www.falconcontainers.com/area-51-falcon-conex-based-offices/
If you send me an email I'll send you actual photos.
Stephen
Containers have 2 big advantages- they are cheap, and they are easy to move.
However, they are not really very good for human habitation, unless you shovel a lot of money into them.
Most often, when you see a really groovy looking container house or office, the cost is mysteriously absent from the article- which is because, most of the time, it costs 2 or 3 times the amount, per square foot, to convert a container, as it would to build a similar sized structure from scratch using local materials.
Once you cut into a container, which requires a certain degree of metalworking skill (I use a plasma cutter, myself), you compromise its structural integrity.
Then, you need expensive and fussy trim to add windows or doors, as the containers are corrugated. You need the ability to drill and seal to the thin metal, both non-standard techniques for most builders.
Containers are NOT human scaled- the ceilings are too low, and the width, while just right for two pallets abreast, is quickly filled with one counter or shelf, making for a tiny space, or an awkward one.
In most climates, they need to be insulated- again, with nonstandard, expensive custom techniques- or they will condense like crazy inside, and everything inside will rust and drip. They are cold in the winter, and hot in the summer.
You need to either drlll, compromising the weather seal, or weld, to add things like wiring and furring for interior walls.
In short, its a great concept that seldom pencils out in reality. Its kind of like the geodesic dome fad of the early 70's- they look great, and cost way more than the result is worth.
For dead storage, which is what they are designed for, they work great. For living, they are not exactly well suited.
We recently released a 120 page book designed to inspire the current generation of Designers and Home Owners looking into this construction method. The Book showcases 30 of the most influential Container based Homes of the last 15 years.
Its free as a digital download here
http://www.containerhome.info/30-most-influential-container-homes.html
Thanks
Victor