Nowhere in D.C.’s municipal regulations or construction
codes is there a reference to “shipping container residences.” Rubbish
containers, yes. Liquid petroleum containers, yes. But homes made out of empty
metal boxes, no.
The construction codes, however, “do allow them under the
right circumstances,” said Matt Orlins, spokesman for the Department of
Consumer Regulatory Affairs. As DCRA launched its review of a planned shipping
container apartment building in Brookland, the first one ever proposed in D.C.,
one code section came in particularly handy.
104.9.1 Used Materials, Equipment and Devices: The use of
used materials which meet the requirements of the Construction Codes for new
materials is permitted. Used equipment and devices shall not be reused unless
approved by the code official.
“There’s no reason they couldn’t be outfitted” to meet the
codes, Orlins said of shipping containers.
DCRA treated the application for 3305 Seventh St. NE, from
Brookland Equity Group LLC and Travis Price Architects, as it would any other
residential application, Orlins said. The plans, now approved, were reviewed
for lighting, ventilation, insulation, wind resistance, ability to handle snow
loads, set backs, parking and height, among other construction standards.
“In many instances,” Orlins said, “it could be built in
certain ways to meet those. It wouldn’t be any different than any other
project.”
If DCRA ran into an issue, there were plenty of
jurisdictions it could turn to for help. From Brooklyn to London, architects
are finding creative ways to reuse shipping containers as homes.
Let's start in New York state, first in New York City.
The shipping container home of one couple — they designed
and built it — caught the attention of the New York Times. And yes, the
three-story home made of stacked containers did cost $400,000, but it was
cheaper than building a house — and the kitchen implements stick to the walls
with magnets. The owners say it was the first in New York City — there were
lots of fights with the city's Buildings Department — but a more luxurious,
21-container home was recently built up the block (there's a photo of it
accompanying this story).
In Upstate New York, two developers in Syracuse are using
recycled shipping containers as building blocks for a five-story apartment
complex with ground-floor commercial space and 36 upscale one-bedroom
apartments on the top four floors (a brick facade will cover the steel
containers). It is being built with 130 shipping containers. Just so you know,
two containers can, by the way, be welded together in 30 minutes.
Container housing — along with retail — can range from the
luxurious to low-income. On the retail end, in Las Vegas there's a
retail-entertainment complex called Container Park. In rural Kentucky, nicer
containers are replacing shotgun shacks, giving the poor a lift by creating a
more liveable, but still affordable environment. London has multi-apartment
complexes built from shipping containers.
Around the world, they've been used for temporary housing
for earthquake and hurricane victims, residents and businesses alike. U.S.
troops overseas have utilized them (like Lego blocks, there are an infinite
number of designs and sizes as they're stacked and connected).
Urban planners and architects are furiously chasing
container architecture. There's a glut of containers in the U.S. — we receive
more than we ship, and it's too expensive to return empty containers (think of
all your empty Amazon.com shipping boxes). They're sturdy, stackable and easily
converted to comfortable living spaces.
That building versatility and trend didn't slip past Popular
Mechanics. It pulled together a slideshow of 45 "amazing homes and offices
built from shipping containers," ranging from luxury pads to
cabins-in-the-woods.
Source: Washington
Business Journal
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