A Shipping Container That's a Custom Home

Abstract:

With a $150,000 budget the solution for using a shipping container as a custom home solved several problems for this home site located alongside the James River in Webster County, Mo.

Byline:

Jennifer Powell

Publication Date:

Sat, 2009-02-28 18:00

Shipping containers are used to build a custom home

The structural integrity of the recycled shipping containers allows the designers to cantilever the hous over the bluff and maximize the views to the river.

The client had a budget of $150,000 and wanted to build a two-bedroom, two-bathroom custom home alongside the James River in Webster County, Mo. The designers from theworkshop 308, based in Springfield, Mo., had a lot of ideas but couldn't meet the budget. The client suggested using recycled shipping containers, an idea stemmed from a Web site the client saw.

That move saved 45 percent of the cost. The containers themselves plus a transportation fee cost about $2,000. If they had built the structure from scratch, it would have cost an estimated $7,500. The labor was less intensive; the containers were ready 24 hours from the time they were ordered. Plus, the modular nature of the shipping containers lend themselves to stacking in the future.