Studio H:T's off-grid Shipping Container House

Great products but how can we get details in order to purchase?

I still can't figure out the idea of this so called Container house. Are they as easily transportable as the standard shipping containers ? A Big NO.

I was a very frequent visitor to Cologne, Germany. Some 20 years ago I saw a whole row of containers stacked, 2 high near a construction site. I did not pay any attention to them. Then one day I saw a construction worker coming out of one. I just stopped and stared at the whole row ow of these double stacked containers and realised that there were literally fully self contained living quarters for the construction workers which could literally be relocated at less than 5 minutes notice. Now that is what I would call Container house !

This is nothing new. People have been living in site delivered boxes for decades, at special locales to maximize the economy. They call them "Trailer Houses" and they are usually deployed in "Trailer Parks" Additionally, they are less than traditional "Trailer Houses" since they are usually not very child safe. Looks like a good way for high income vanity to transfer wealth to reasonable income workers who build these things. :-)

If you want really fast home deployment, get a Winnebago. They've been at it a very long time and know how to make a great mobile living environment. Resale value is good too. I'd hate to try to resell one of these houses mentioned in this article.

While it's interesting and helps drive the "alt housing frenzy". it's not really representative of "real" ISBU housing. I've been building ISBU homes for over three decades, and MOST of them are totally off-grid. This is something "less" and possibly something "more". YMMV.

In my projects, books and blogs, I often urge builders and families to think about the materials on hand and then combine them to cost effectively take advantage of their strengths. That's what Studio H:T has set their sights on.

It's a far cry from the "trailer parks" that some have referred to. The base unit, the ISBU, is a Corten Steel construct that is (by design) weather resistant, durable, scalable and robust. Trailers are nothing more than "cheaply made shelters waiting for failure". The differences are night and day.

What we're looking at here is a"hybrid" home, one that uses many diverse materials to build a strong, stable housing platform. And by pushing the envelope, it just makes us think about other ways to accomplish "housing"... hopefully affordably.

This is only novel because of there being a large central space which is not a container and the fact they have slapped a few solar panels on it.

Real container housing is something like pmshah mentioned earlier. To get some idea of what can be done you only have to look at the student housing in Amsterdam (I'm surprised that Gizmag hasn't mentioned them) http://www.tempohousing.com/projects/keetwonen.html

Ah! I lived in a "Coastel" accommodation barge made out of 2000 of these ISO containers welded together, down in the Falkland Isles in 1982 - very comfy and much better than a tent up on the airfield!!

The roof should be a rain water catchment and the solar should be mounted either on the ground or on a side wall depending upon the climate of the area. Either alternative location would enable easy adjustment of the PV tilt to maximize energy production throughout the year. Hard to understand why people cannot think things through but produce "half-baked" solutions like this.