Shipping Containers Deliver Innovative, Elegant Homes
There have been many variations on the theme of converting shipping containers into homes, but few are as elegant or practical as this one by Vancouver’s Atira Women’s Resource Society. The just completed building contains 12 studio units, sized from 280-290 sq ft, each with its own kitchen, bathroom and laundry facility.
Atira, a not-for-profit organization focused on ending abuse to women, will use six of the units for older women interested in mentoring women in the organization’s Imouto Housing Development for Young Women, which is next door. The other six units will be rented at income-restricted rates.
Beyond its altruistic roots, the development boasts some impressive design and construction elements:
- Constructed completely out of recycled 40′ shipping containers.
- All 12 units fit on a standard 25′ x 119′ lot along with internal courtyard.
- Hard construction costs for each unit were only $82,500.
- Construction phase was only about eight months.
- Units meet all building code and exceed insulation and noise transference codes.
Atira’s development, as we’ve seen before with SRO’s, shows that often the most innovative and practical designs don’t come about through unlimited resources, but rather creatively working with limited resources.
Images via Atira Women’s Resource Society