BMCT V - Container Architecture

Container Architecture
BUILDING MATERIALS
&
CONSTRUCTION TECHNOLOGY - V
Presentation by: Prof. Rikta Desai
Faculty team:
Prof. Vishal Mashruwala
Prof. Priyank Parekh
B. Arch. – III, Sem. - V B . M . C . T. - V AAERT & the SSB Ltd. Faculty of Architecture, SCET
• Container Architecture
• Characteristics
• Available Sizes and specifications
• Advantages -Disadvantages
• Projects and case studies
Shipping Container
A shipping container is a container with strength suitable to withstand shipment,

storage, and handling. Shipping containers range from large reusable steel boxes used
for intermodal shipments to the ubiquitous corrugated boxes. In the context of
international shipping trade, "container" or "shipping container" is virtually synonymous
with "intermodal freight container," a container designed to be moved from one mode
of transport to another without unloading and reloading.
Shipping Container History
The Father of the modern container as we know it today is Malcom McLean, who is often
referred to as the father of “conterization”. He was an American truck driver and
entrepreneur who thought of a way to reduce the costs of and shorten the time-
consuming and labor intensive tasks of unloading the individual contents of a truck onto
the ship. In 1950s, his patent for a metal shipping container with reinforced corner posts
that could be craned off a truck chasis and had integral strength for stacking
revolutionized the entire transport branch.
Shipping Container Types
https://www.bansarchina.com/shipping-container-guide/
Shipping Container Types

Different types of shipping containers Different types of containers based on
based on the good to be shipped material of construction
i. General cargo container. i. Steel shipping container

ii. Bulk shipping container. ii. Aluminum alloy shipping container
iii. Liquid cargo container. iii. FRP Shipping container
iv. Reefer shipping container iv. Fiberboard shipping container
v. Tank shipping container. v. Wooden shipping container
vi. Flat rack shipping container.
vii. Open top shipping container.
viii. Car shipping container
ix. The livestock shipping container
( Pen Container)
x. The hide container
Shipping Containers condition
There are countless numbers of empty, unused shipping containers around the world
just sitting on shipping docks taking up space.
Shipping Containers condition
The reason for this is that it’s too expensive for a country to ship empty containers back to
their origin. In most cases, it’s just cheaper to buy new containers from Asia.
The result is an extremely high surplus of empty shipping containers.
Reuse of shipping containers as a home, office, apartment,

schools, dormitory, studio, emergency shelter and
everything else….is the solution of this situation.
Shipping Container Architecture
Shipping container architecture is a form of architecture using steel intermodal

containers (shipping containers) as structural element. It is also referred to
as cargotecture, a portmanteau of cargo with architecture, or "arkitainer".
History of container architecture
• On November 23, 1987, Phillip C. Clark file for a United States

patent describe as a “Method for converting one or more steel
shipping containers into a habitable building at a building site
and the product thereof.”
• This patent was granted on August 8, 1989 as patent 4854094.
• The diagrams and information contained within the
documentation of the patent appear to lay the groundwork for
many current shipping container architectural ideas.
https://patents.google.com/patent/US4854094A/en
In 2006, Southern California architect Peter DeMaria, designed the first two-
story shipping container home in the U.S. as an approved structural system
under the strict guidelines of the nationally recognized Uniform Building
Code.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ErwPkEzO6Z4
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XfQwJUXC-wc
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aW86Og7Obug
Even more impressive is Lot-Tek’s Puma City, which was built with abundant
material at a low price, without substituting design quality. As such, there are
many great examples of shipping container architecture in the world.
Client: PUMA
Type: Mixed-use (Event Space, Retail, Office, Leisure/Bar)
Location: Multiple Global Ports
Size: 11,000 SF
Design: 2008
Structure: Silman
Mechanical/Sustainability: Rosini Engineering
Photography: Danny Bright
AWARDS:
2009 International Architecture Awards - The Chicago Athenaeum Museum
2009 I.D. Magazine, Honorable Mention for Best Environments
2009 Travel + Leisure Design Award - Best Retail
https://vimeo.com/33745418
Twenty-four shipping containers are retrofitted and transformed into PUMA City, a transportable retail and event building. The building
was assembled and disassembled a number of times at several different international ports. PUMA City is conceived as a three level stack
of containers, shifted to create internal outdoor spaces, large overhangs and terraces. The structure is comprised of two full retail spaces
on the lower levels, both designed with large double height celings and 4-container-wide open spaces – as a counterpoint to the modular
box-quality of the container inner space. The second level houses offices, press area and storage, while a bar, lounge and event space
with a large open terrace is placed at the top. The building uses 40-foot long shipping containers as well as a number of the existing
container connectors to join and secure containers both horizontally and vertically. Each module is designed to ship as conventional cargo
container through a system of structural covering panels that fully seals all of its large openings to be removed on site to re-connect the
large, open interior spaces. At 11,000 square feet of space, it is the first container building of its scale to be truly mobile.
Container Architecture:
Characteristics: System of giant LEGO bricks
Key Characteristic: Modularity
Containers are like giant LEGO blocks. Containers are module of different sizes and
there are unlimited spatial combinations they can be combined into.
Single unit-Fixed/Portable
Two-Three units
Multiple units- different sizes
Multiple units-repetitive modules-same size
Shipping Container sizes
Shipping Container sizes: modularity
Shipping Container structure:
Shipping Container structure:
Advantages/PROS of container architecture
Shipping container architecture gets a lot of encouraging coverage in the design

world as a trendy green alternative to traditional building materials, and seems
like a smart choice for people looking for eco-consciousness. Some of the
advantages are:
1. Green Building:
Containers are eco-friendly, as they are re-purposed into homes instead of being melted
down. A large amount of cargo containers are discarded in ports across the globe because
of one way shipments. Reusing a single 40' container upcycles about 3500kg of steel and
saves about 8000 kWh that would otherwise be needed to melt it down. Repurposing it
only uses about 400 kWh. Using containers also prevents the use of bricks and
cement. The cement industry is one of the biggest producers of CO2 and bricks essentially
make the natural materials they are made of, inert.
2. Cost effective:
In India, Shipping containers typically cost only Rs. 60,00 – 100,000 depending
on their size. They're are already the perfect shape to be repurposed into
homes, so a home built out of them is a minimum of 30% cheaper than a same
sized home built in brick and mortar. The structural work is also minimal,
reducing the cost further. This can be put to very good use
3. Speed/ease of construction
Container buildings, even those of larger proportions, can be assembled in a very

short time
Building a housing structure out of a shipping container takes roughly 2-3 weeks in
comparison to brick and mortar structure which takes around 4-6 months to make.
Most structures can be assembled within a day or so, if all the pieces have been cut off
site which is in equivalence to prefabricated structures
4. Sturdiness and structural stability
Containers are also “virtually indestructible”. A container’s outer shell resists any on-site
manipulation and withstands the worst of weather conditions (the cold and the heat, as well as
rough seas, salty water, high winds, downpours). They are designed to bear heavy loads and can
also easily be stacked one on top of the other to create multi-story homes. Their structural
stability makes such homes earthquake and hurricane proof, which makes them extremely safe
for natural disaster-prone areas.
5. Flexibility
Containers are modular in nature. This enables container-buildings structure to change

through time and adapt to spatial needs of their occupants
6. Mixed structures
Container architecture often includes other construction materials aside from

containers, such as wood, steel, concrete and glass, which make container-made
buildings more like other custom made architecture.
7. Individualism and customization
In a society stressing the personal style of each individual, containers are perfect for
mass-produced customized architecture.
8. Off Site Construction:
Container homes can be built off site and then delivered to your land ready to
move in to. Sometimes a plot of land isn’t suitable to build on. In this case, one
can get the shipping container home made at a local workshop and then the
finished product can be delivered to the plot of land.
9. Safety:
A major problem with remote and rural infrastructure is the risk of break-
ins. Containers need a blowtorch or dynamite to break into, and are too
heavy to lift up and make-off with without anyone noticing. This
contributes to making it a safe structure for use in remote areas
10. Transport
Because they already conform to standard shipping sizes, pre-

fabricated modules can be easily transported by ship, truck, or rail.
Disadvantages/CONS of container architecture

there are a lot of downsides to building with cargo containers.
1. Insulation and Heat Control:
Shipping containers are large steel boxes meaning that they absorb and transmit heat
and cold very well. This leads to the problem of controlling the temperature inside.
This can be solved by using the correct type of insulation and paint although it can
also lead to non-environmentally friendly solutions like energy consuming ACs.
Insulation can also further reduce the already limited interior space of the container.
In order to increase space, multiple structures can be joined together on-site.
2. Refurbishing:
Many used shipping containers are old and nearing the end of their life span. Used
containers tend to rust quickly because they have been scratched or dented while
serving their primary function. Such dents and scratches have to be refurbished
correctly by your contractor. If the container is re-painted every few years, it can last a
minimum of 20 years and much more.
3. Ecological Footprint:
Using disused containers as building blocks is an effective way of recycling them, but the eco
footprint of these homes is still larger than it appears at first glance. Before these homes can
be habitable, the entire container must be sandblasted, the flooring needs to be replaced or
sealed and all the openings need to be cut with a torch. There are also carbon emissions
associated with transport and assembling. You have to ensure that your contractor is
disposing this waste produced correctly.
4. Health Hazards
Shipping containers are not intended for human habitation and are thus made using
non human friendly elements like chromate, phosphorous, and lead-based paints used
on the walls, arsenic and chromium used sometimes to infuse the wooden floors of the
container in order to deter pest infestation. the coatings used to make the containers
durable for ocean transport also happen to contain a number of harmful chemicals,
such as chromate, phosphorous, and lead-based paints. You have to ensure your
contractor is dealing with these hazards before constructing your building with a
container.
5. Using New Containers:
Using new containers to build your container house goes against the entire practice of
container recycling! A lot of container home manufacturers will propose buying brand new
containers from China so that they aren't dented and will cost only slightly more. However, this
defeats the whole purpose of using a container in the first place, which is to reuse an old
container, while saving the amount of carbon emissions and resourced associated with
building a new brick and mortar building.
6. Size constraints:
Another downside is that dimensionally, an individual container creates awkward

living/working spaces. Taking into account added insulation, you have a long
narrow box with less than eight foot ceiling. To make an adequate sized space,
multiple boxes need to be combined, which again, requires energy.
.
Suitability considering PROS and CONS
In many areas, it is cheaper and less energy to build a

similarly scaled structure using wood framing. Shipping
container homes makes sense where resources are scarce,
containers are in abundance, and where people are in
need of immediate shelter such as, developing nations
and disaster relief. While there are certainly striking and
innovative examples of architecture using cargo containers,
it is typically not the best method of design and
construction.
WZMH Architects Designs Smart Screening and Testing Pod for
COVID-19
The Citizen Care Pod is a new initiative for COVID-19 smart screening and testing,
combining intelligent technology with a modular design. Led by the Citizen Care Pods
Corporation, the multi-disciplinary team, consisting of Toronto based WZMH
Architects, PCL Construction, Insight Enterprises, and Microsoft, collaborated to bring
the project from concept to reality in less than a month.
The Citizen Care Pod is a smart screening and testing pod that integrates intelligent
technology within a modular design to support a safe, responsible recovery for
governments, businesses, and communities. Customizable with the capabilities to enable
full-on mobile COVID-19 testing in high-traffic environments, the project will help
in testing, screening, and eventually vaccination on a mass scale.
The pods consist of assembled shipping containers, “with customizable options to

support rapid delivery and installation to any site, including high-traffic or remote
locations”. The Citizen Care Pod is a 20-foot or 40-foot shipping container, equipped
with four to 10 testing stations, designed to physically and safely separate patients
and healthcare workers. Equipped with intelligent, customizable technologies
powered by Microsoft Azure cloud platform and Azure AI, the project provides “relief
to over-burdened hospitals, and empower businesses and communities to be leaders
in health promotion and disease prevention”.
Adaptable, the pod can be later on used for testing and screening for flu season and
viral outbreaks, delivering vaccines, as well as future public health needs. Finally, the
Citizen Care Pod features a core set of intelligent technology and design features and
can be customized to include additional smart systems. Read more about it here.
https://www.archdaily.com/941878/wzmh-architects-designs-smart-screening-
and-testing-pod-for-covid-19
COVID-19: HONG KONG ENGINEERS TRANSFORM SHIPPING CONTAINER INTO

HIGH-TECH ISOLATION ROOM
Modular system developed by pro bono team could be used to build fully
functional isolation hospital in six weeks
As Hong Kong prepared for the peak of the Covid 19 pandemic, a group of
eminent local engineers developed a potential solution for rapidly
increasing isolation ward capacity. Two WSP engineers were part of that
team – Thomas Chan, Executive Director, Building MEP, and Kwok-Fai Tsui
Technical Director, Building MEP who worked in their free time on a design
to transform a 20-foot container into an isolation unit.
The negative pressure isolation room they designed, also known as an airborne
infection isolation room, would be built using the Modular Integrated
Construction method (MiC).
The challenge was to transform a 20ft x 8ft (6m x 2.4m) standard container
into a high standard hospital isolation room with interlocking door entrances
and en-suite bathrooms. Each isolation ward would operate at negative
pressure 10 Pa and would be sealed by a built-in ante room to create an air
lock. The room would also be equipped with a specialised air conditioning
system and exhaust ventilation system, as well as a high efficiency particulate
air filter for air filtration before discharge. In the ante room, the pressure
would be set at negative 5 Pa to allow medical staff to safely put on and
remove personal protective clothing. The same principles were implemented
in Hong Kong hospitals during the 2003 SARS outbreak, and proved to be safe
and highly effective in preventing contaminated air from leaking out of the
room.
Assembled using MiC, a 20ft x 3ft (6m x 1m) electrical & mechanical (E&M)
module would be attached alongside the container to house all the E&M
systems and equipment serving this isolation room. This design would allow
the connection of the E&M equipment to the isolation room using ready-to-
plug-in methods.
By adopting MiC, the construction team could quickly and safely complete
fabrication of these containers off-site, allowing full inspection and fine tuning
before transferring them to the actual hospital construction site. Not only
would the containers be stackable, but their use could also be converted into a
variety of configurations for offices, laboratories and other purposes – all
connectable and easily transported by sea or land.
According to Thomas, using this technology a fully functional isolation hospital
could be built in Hong Kong in approximately one and a half months.
https://www.wsp.com/en-HK/insights/covid-container
References
http://www.aadhan.org/blog/2016/7/2/pro-and-cons-container-architecture
https://www.archdaily.com/878170/method-in-modular-10-floor-plans-
using-shipping-container-
architecture?ad_source=search&ad_medium=search_result_all
Container Block in Haojiacun Urban Village / Bounds Plan + BA Studio
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sauEsj8YW9M

BMCT V - Container Architecture

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BMCT V - Container Architecture

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Container Architecture

Presentation by: Prof. Rikta Desai

A shipping container is a container with strength suitable to withstand shipment,

Shipping Container History

Shipping Container Types

Shipping Container Types

i. General cargo container. i. Steel shipping container

Shipping Containers condition

Shipping Containers condition

Reuse of shipping containers as a home, office, apartment,

Shipping Container Architecture

Shipping container architecture is a form of architecture using steel intermodal

History of container architecture

• On November 23, 1987, Phillip C. Clark file for a United States

History of container architecture

History of container architecture

Key Characteristic: Modularity

Multiple units- different sizes

Multiple units-repetitive modules-same size

Shipping Container sizes

Shipping Container sizes

Shipping Container sizes

Shipping Container sizes

Shipping Container sizes: modularity

Shipping Container structure:

Shipping Container structure:

Advantages/PROS of container architecture

Shipping container architecture gets a lot of encouraging coverage in the design

Container buildings, even those of larger proportions, can be assembled in a very

4. Sturdiness and structural stability

Containers are modular in nature. This enables container-buildings structure to change

Container architecture often includes other construction materials aside from

7. Individualism and customization

8. Off Site Construction:

Because they already conform to standard shipping sizes, pre-

Disadvantages/CONS of container architecture

1. Insulation and Heat Control:

5. Using New Containers:

Another downside is that dimensionally, an individual container creates awkward

Suitability considering PROS and CONS

In many areas, it is cheaper and less energy to build a

The pods consist of assembled shipping containers, “with customizable options to

COVID-19: HONG KONG ENGINEERS TRANSFORM SHIPPING CONTAINER INTO

Container Block in Haojiacun Urban Village / Bounds Plan + BA Studio

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