Remember Top of the Lake (think: Twin Peaks set in New Zealand)? In Jane Campion’s compelling drama, a group of women create a camp called Paradise, made from shipping containers set on the edge of the lake.
A guest house/garden retreat/playhouse made from a repurposed steel shipping container by Jim Poteet of Poteet Architects in San Antonio, Texas.
San Antonio, Texas
Airbnb in California
Photograph by Nicolás Boullosa via Flickr.
At Soul Food Farm in Vacaville, California a shipping container has been transformed into a tiny Airbnb rental space.
A pop-up hotel called Sleeping Around travels the globe according to demand.
Pop-Up Hotel
Swimming Pool
Each Modpool starts with a steel shipping container—but becomes much more than that, with a hot tub compartment, interior bench seating, and even a viewing window so you can see what’s going on underwater.
A few years ago, a county parks department in Washington state sponsored a contest that sounded like something Amy Poehler would dream up on Parks and Rec: Transform a surplus cargo container into a permanent campground cabin.
Washington State
Photograph courtesy of Cargotecture.
A bach (meaning vacation cabin; it’s short for “bachelor pad”) in New Zealand was designed by Atelier Workshop. The container has built-in wood paneling, a foldout terrace, and bunk beds; all that and it’s meant to be mobile.
New Zealand
In 2005, Toronto-based design studio Castor created a wood-burning sauna made to fit inside a shipping container.
Toronto Spa Chic
Prefab houses from MEKA (Modular, Environmental, Kinetic, Assembly) made from a steel shipping container, cedar wood paneling, double glazed argon-filled windows, a bamboo interior, and slate bathroom; four different design options range from $40K to $135K.
Prefab Cottages
In 2011 HyBrid Architecture collaborated with Sunset Magazine to install the Nomade C192–a 192-square-foot container home.
Northern California
Photograph courtesy of Sunset.
Evergreen Brickworks, an environmental community center in Toronto, has a welcome hut made from a repurposed 20-square-foot shipping container that architect Levitt Goodman renovated and painted bright green.
He installed a rainwater chain to direct excess water into a rain barrel on the side of the hut.