SEED: Shipping Container Emergency Housing

by Clemson University Department of Architecture with Tri-County Technical

Utilizing an existing surplus of shipping containers, students from Clemson University’s Department of Architecture partnered with Tri-County Technical College, to research and develop an affordable housing solution for the Caribbean Region. 

Caribbean nations inherently import more goods than they export generating a steady surplus of shipping containers.  Shipping containers are designed to carry massive amounts of cargo and withstand extreme weather conditions making them a logical housing component.  Constructed entirely of steel and reinforced with eight corner post moment connections and corrugated steel walls, a 40′ shipping container can carry 67,200 pounds and resist overturn when exposed to winds up to 140 mph.  Without modification a 40′ shipping container has 304 square feet of floor space and eliminates problems associated with insects, fire, and hurricanes.  With modification a 40′ shipping container can be a safe, comfortable, and environmentally friendly home for numerous local inhabitants.

The beginning design emerged as a system of event based solutions capable of providing immediate housing after hurricanes or natural disasters.  Local interventions and materials eventually develop into permanent additions creating an investment with a local identity.  Utilizing local skills, labor, and materials the final design is dynamic taking on a symbiotic relationship with the local cultures.  Eventually the ubiquitous container is embedded and made permanent providing an investment that can appreciate with time.

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22. nuzzo reblogged this from so-aware and added:

    basically what I wanted...few years ago. Its neat other people think

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31. the-architect-unstructured said: I like this. I started liking shipping containers after a visitor center project I designed.
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