Here are the some alternative usages of Shipping Containers:
1. Mobile Residential Unit
A mobile residential unit is made up of a single 20ft long shipping container. The container is fabricated from inside and outside to add living unit elements to it, such as doors, windows, heat insulation, power supply and water connections. Custom size door and windows can be added to suit a particular requirement. The container sides are insulated from inside to control the heat in summer weather and cold in winters. Residential unit is equipped with bathroom and kitchen area as well. A single point water connection and power connection is provided to allow the container to be placed anywhere with a power socket and water connection. The unit is mobile from the fact that, it can be lifted by a crane and transported on a trailer truck to any place of your choice. The unit can be placed on a trailer as well and can be pulled as a trailer unit.
2. Home Office
A home office is a unique concept which allows the creation of an office space at home without making any structural changes to your existing house. A container home office unit made from a 20ft or 40ft long shipping container. The container is fabricated from inside and outside to create the office space by adding doors, windows, heat insulation, power supply and water connections. The office furniture can be placed as a standalone unit or can be custom made by utilizing the container inner sides and roof to create extremely flexible and less-space-occupying furniture.
The container home office unit can be transported to your place of choice by a trailer truck and placed into the right place using a crane. The container home office unit can be placed at any space in your house. Possible options are garden area, house backyard, roof top or any other open space.
3. House Extension
An existing house can be extended by adding new living units made from Shipping Containers without destroying or constructing any new structural elements using traditional brick and mortar. The house is extended by new custom made residential units from shipping containers. Living unit elements such as doors, windows, heat insulation, power supply and water connections are added to the shipping container. Custom size door and windows can be added to suit a particular requirement. The container sides are insulated from inside to control the heat in summer weather and cold in winters. Residential unit is equipped with bathroom and kitchen area as well. A single point water connection and power connection is provided to allow the container to be placed anywhere with a power socket and water connection.
The new residential units can be placed at rooftops, garden area, house backyard or any other open space. The unit either needs a 20ft X 8ft(160sqft) paved surface area or four pillars on which the container living unit can be placed. The pillars can be added to the garden area or house backyard and then the container living unit can be placed on it. The house extension by such method doesn’t involve any expensive and time consuming construction operation. The pre-fabricated container residential unit are ready to be used from the day one and can be installed within a days time with hassle of brick-and-mortar construction. Since the entire living unit is inside a shipping container, it can be removed as well without any damage to the existing brick-and-mortar house.
4. Guest Rooms
Guest rooms are created using shipping containers. The mobile residential unit and house extension container units are used to create guest rooms at short notice. The entire setup is extremely easy to install and remove when not required.
5. Resort Living Unit
A resort living unit is made up of a single 20ft long shipping container. The container is fabricated from inside and outside to add living unit elements to it, such as doors, windows, heat insulation, power supply and water connections. Custom size door and windows can be added to suit a particular requirement. The container sides are insulated from inside to control the heat in summer weather and cold in winters. Residential unit is equipped with bathroom and kitchen area as well. A single point water connection and power connection is provided to allow the container to be placed anywhere with a power socket and water connection. The unit is provided a balcony at the top of the container, which provides a sit out area and works as the collection surface for water harvesting and solar power. The unit are pre-fabricated and installed as and when needed. Traditional brick-mortar or wood made living units require an army of skilled labor to create such a unit, apart from the labor problem, the entire place need to be dug up and construction needs to take place at the site, rendering the place not usable and spoiling the overall look and feel of the resort. The container living units are pre-fabricated and transported to the resort site on trailer tucks. They are placed at the exact site in a matter of hours. Compared to traditionally made living units, container living units are hassle free and extremely fast to create and can be install at any site. This directly results in a better return on your investment, as the container living units are ready to be let out from day one, rather than waiting for couple of months to get it ready.
6. Farm House Living Unit
A resort living unit can be used as a Personal Farm House Living Unit as well. With the benefits as above mentioned, it is a unique concept by which farm houses can be equipped with mobile / temporary accommodation which is fast to install and extremely cost effective.
7. Roof Top Rooms
Roof tops of existing houses can be used to place mobile container living units to create hassle free and cost-effective extra rooms.
8. Swimming Pools
Shipping Containers can be converted into innovative swimming pools. The container is fabricated and sealed to make a water-tight water tank with provisions for inlet and outlet. The container swimming pool unit can be placed in pit or on the ground level. The cost of creating a swimming pool out of shipping container is less than half the cost of a traditional brick-and-mortar swimming pool.
9. Container Cafe
Shipping containers can be used to create innovative and designer cafes which are cost-effective and faster to build. Multiple containers are joined together in different positions to create useful spaces inside and outside the structure.
10. Container Hotel
An entire hotel can be built using shipping containers. Containers not only become the rooms of the hotel but provide the support structure and act as connecting unit between different sections of the hotel. Such a structure commands a niche as compared to regular hotels. Container Hotels are ideal for places where open land can be leased out for a certain period of time for the purpose of running a hotel. The container hotel is assembled on the open land and is dis-assembled and moved to a different location after the expiry of the lease.
