Container housing in ACT?

Here’s a shipping container concept I developed while studying building design at CIT.

https://remely.com.au/portfolio/shipping-container-concepts/

Do you require a DA for approval to have a container home with people residing in it on a larger size parcel of land? What is the current legislation in the ACT with regards to this?

Thank you

I do get fired up when people with no knowledge on subject’s comment
I suppose they are entitled to their opinion, you can build a home from shipping containers and it will comply to the BCA, unfortunately people are wanting bigger and more and have little thought to sustainability and our future, we all need to rethink what we are going to leave behind for our children and grandchildren, We are working and developing quality small footprint homes studios and spaces at Stack Space, and I am happy to advise anyone that’s interested
We will soon be installing a container home at the Ginninderry display village that opens on 21 September

For those wondering why you’d bother, sure you need to get the inside fitted out and get the plumbing and electrics sorted.

But you don’t need an underfloor, you don’t need a roof, you don’t need framing and you don’t need external walls. That adds up to an appreciable proportion of a built house. And these things are STRONG and weathertight. Just need to pay attention to the right kind of insulation and air circulation so as not to waste energy on heating/cooling.

Yes, you ARE recycling something that’s already been used (in theory) and you’re not wasting additional new resources for the external fabric and framing components. I don’t see why this is a bad thing.

And there are some funky designs out there to put them together. Much more interesting than pretty much all Canberra “architecture” after 1926.

I’d be more inclined to go for pre-fab pods, which are actually built with human habitation in mind.

There is a house on the main street of Macgregor West that was built using several containers (between the 2nd and 3rd roundabouts, on the left side – from main road) – I defy anyone to pick it. It isn’t so much containers turned into a house, but actually incorporated into the structure (ie INSTEAD of timber/steel frame. The websites cross provided are not houses like the MacWest one…Cutting a few holes into the containers removes little of their structural integrity – they’d certainly be stronger than either traditional timber frame or steel frame. However, I can’t see a few (even retired containers) being cheaper than timber or steel.

Having said that, the Flynn’s container house from Tron: Legacy was cool (Quik House?)…

thatsnotme said :

See, here’s the thing with building a house from shipping container/s. It’s a metal box, designed to hold stuff. So it doesn’t have plumbing. It doesn’t have cavities to fit insulation. It doesn’t have anywhere to run electrics. There are no windows – and cutting a hole in it will affect its load bearing capabilities.

I really don’t get why anyone would want to do this? You will need to get in tradesmen to modify the containers, so they’re remotely habitible, and those tradies will be working in an environment they’re unlikely to be used to. The link to Sea Box that p996911turbo provided seems to reinforce the view that shipping containers are good for temporary, relocatable housing…but kinda crap for a house you’re going to live in permanently.

Then, there’s the fact that if you’re going to build a home, it needs to meet building regulations and local planning laws. I doubt many people would be happy to live next door to a home made of shipping containers, unless it was modified so extensively that it was impossible to see they existed in the home.

I just can’t see what benefit you’d get from doing this? Sure, the containers themselves may be cheap, but to convert them into something you can live in will cost big bucks.

+1

I think the people doing this feel they are saving the planet by re-using these containers.. when the containers can just as easily be melted down and recycled.

Having looked at containers for storage in the past, my experience was they were usually in pretty average shape if they had made their way to a reseller to be sold off.

If you are building a permanent structure, ICF’s (insulated concrete forms) seem to be all the rage for rapid / cost effective construction:

http://www.buildblock.com/insulated_concrete_forms.asp (random site I plucked out, no specific relevance)

Have seen a couple of extensions in Canberra using them, might be worth looking in to.

http://www.shippingcontainerhomes.com.au/
http://green.yahoo.com/blog/daily_green_news/8/twelve-amazing-shipping-container-houses.html
http://www.containerhomes.net.au/shipping-containers-as-homes

Google is your friend

See, here’s the thing with building a house from shipping container/s. It’s a metal box, designed to hold stuff. So it doesn’t have plumbing. It doesn’t have cavities to fit insulation. It doesn’t have anywhere to run electrics. There are no windows – and cutting a hole in it will affect its load bearing capabilities.

I really don’t get why anyone would want to do this? You will need to get in tradesmen to modify the containers, so they’re remotely habitible, and those tradies will be working in an environment they’re unlikely to be used to. The link to Sea Box that p996911turbo provided seems to reinforce the view that shipping containers are good for temporary, relocatable housing…but kinda crap for a house you’re going to live in permanently.

Then, there’s the fact that if you’re going to build a home, it needs to meet building regulations and local planning laws. I doubt many people would be happy to live next door to a home made of shipping containers, unless it was modified so extensively that it was impossible to see they existed in the home.

I just can’t see what benefit you’d get from doing this? Sure, the containers themselves may be cheap, but to convert them into something you can live in will cost big bucks.

Bemused said :

Crace

+1 🙂