Plans are progressing to build the first multifamily residential project in the U.S. from retired shipping containers.
The $3.4 million, 20-unit condo complex, first proposed in 2008, is expected to break ground in Detroit near Wayne State University in 2013.
The project “would stack empty containers four high, cut in windows and doors, install plumbing, stairways and heating, and add amenities such as balconies and landscaped patios.” Units are expected to range from 850 to 1,920 square feet in size.
Prices still are being determined but should run about 5% less than similarly sized condos in today’s market, [Leslie Horn, CEO of Three Squared, the Detroit firm that is building the project] said.
Empty shipping containers have been used extensively in Europe to create housing and projects like office space for entrepreneurs and other types of projects. But their use is much rarer in the U.S. [Examples of housing projects outside the U.S.: here, here, and here; and a multistory office in the U.S.: here.]
But backers of such projects say that it’s a good way to recycle empty containers that stack up in port cities around the world because shippers find it too expensive to send them back empty to China or other ports of origin.
If successful, the prototype project in Detroit could lead to widespread other uses of empty containers, Horn said, including student or emergency housing, temporary construction offices, and infill houses in urban neighborhoods.
(via Detroit firm aims to use shipping containers for Midtown residences | Detroit Free Press | freep.com)
Multi-Housing News adds: The project’s 90-plus shipping containers will be outfitted with energy-efficient systems that include ductless heating and air systems, tankless water heaters, and other amenities that “combine to reduce each unit’s energy costs by up to 80 percent.”
More photos on the Web site of the project’s designer, Detroit architect Steven Flum, here.
