This one-bedroom, one-bath shipping container house showcases sleek design in Livingston, Montana. So what exactly goes into building a shipping container home? And are they as economical, sustainable, and livable as claimed? We break down what you need to know below. Some structures can be simple-a single compact shipping container outfitted for dwelling-while others are complex designs that use multiple containers merged with other structural components. Since the mid-2000s, designers began repurposing containers into a wide array of buildings. Where some saw a problem, innovative architects saw an eco-friendly opportunity.
However, over the decades a challenge emerged: an excess of used containers. They are large and sturdy enough to uniformly transport goods but small enough to fit on trucks and light enough to be moved by cranes and forklifts. Shipping containers fill a crucial niche in the world’s economy.
