Thinking about all the things you can customize, designing your dream home is a thrilling process. We are here to assist you with each step in designing your shipping container home. Our relationships with structural engineers, architects, and design teams provide a step by step inclusive design driven by your lifestyle and input. Through each stage, together we develop a full proof plan to your dream house. Below are some of the elements considered when designing your container home.
Your lifestyle should dictate your living situation. Shipping container homes are great in this aspect because you can let your imagination roam. Of course there are limits due to zoning and permitting laws in your area, but you've made a great decision to step away from the "cookie cutter" traditional style of housing or purchasing.
We incorporate plastic modeling applications to give you time to design your own home. Our consultants will help you through your design by identifying your lifestyle, your wants, and necessities to help you create a design that is exciting and fully functional to you.
With your input and our design team and software, we can design the perfect container home for you with 3D modeling availability
The floor plan of your new shipping container home is considered through out the whole process. designing the proper floor plan is crucial to your lifestyle and needs.
Our design team will work with you to create the perfect floor plan to fit your needs that flows with your lifestyle. having that flow is crucial to your families daily operations and overall lifestyle. Elements of the floor plan design includes: kitchen and bath placements, window and door locations, and bedroom placement according to square footage of your design.
Designing a sweet floor plan will also dictate mechanical features of the build as far as electrical and lighting, heating and air options, and plumbing and sprinkler systems. Solar is a huge benefit for a sustainable and net zero applications and is a viable option. There are plenty of add-ons such as roof top decks, patios, battery back up and generator systems in the event of an emergency. Sky is the limit, Literally!
Shipping containers are designed to be stacked up to 8 high and all loads go to the four corner posts. Cargo containers need to withstand transportation loads in the open ocean weather for months. On top of a cargo vessel, they are subjected to high wind and large horizontal loads from vessel rocking motions on the sea. Its important to make sure the foundation for your shipping container home is solid. Through our foundation design teams we take in to account height of the build , wind load, and weight load points
Shipping container homes can be placed on multiple types of foundations. They can be raised on piers, lay flat on a slab, and for higher stacked models we will incorporate footer systems to support the load of what you design. All of these elements are carefully taken into consideration by our licensed structural engineers, to ensure your home lasts a lifetime.
Through out the design process, its important to understand the existing structural integrity of your shipping containers and strengthen where needed according to your preferences and lifestyle needs.
Adding windows and doors, combining containers, and removing areas of the side walls can compromise the initial structural integrity of your container. Involving the structural engineer is key in this area. By adding steel framing and beams in areas where structural integrity is compromised, we are able to strengthen these areas to avoid flex and stress in areas where custom alterations are made
When combining containers we incorporate ISO certified elements, through our vendors, that are durable and made for the container systems such as combers, supports, and beam systems.
Once your initial design is complete, the foundation design is solid and were ready to test it to stand against the elements, our structural engineers will put your design to the test.
Through computer generated models, our engineers will test against height and wind, geographical location and weather patterns, overall structural integrity and load bearing points to ensure the safety of your design.
This process is an intricate and necessary process when permitting your new shipping container home. These documents are submitted with your permits and plans to the proper permitting departments to ensure your permit is submitted properly and efficiently (all permitting approvals are subject to approval according to your specific state, county, and city) . Its a great idea if you're considering a shipping container home to check with your local permitting, zoning and HOA officials.
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