Storage Containers As a Base for Innovative Housing Design
Planning Approval for Studio Apartment Container Housing in UK
A new shipping container based social housing development has been approved in Aylesbury, England. The single bedroomed micro-homes are being built to meet a serious housing shortage for those on low incomes in the area.
Social housing crisis in the UK
As with urban Australia, there is a dire need in the UK for housing given house price inflation. Many homes are being built for middle income families and those who are in low incomes are left out.
In the UK that has meant thousands of families are in temporary accommodation for many years, with a very small social housing construction programme nationally that does not meet demand. Some private landlords specialise in slum housing with poor maintenance and unsafe conditions at high, market led rents.
In a country where families with children can’t get social housing, it is nearly impossible for single men and women to get housing unless they have complex underlying conditions such as learning difficulties and mental health issues. The rest are basically left to fend for themselves, which explains in part an explosion of homelessness in the country.
Aylesbury takes steps to meet a need
In the commuting orbit of London, Aylesbury is a town of mixed fortunes. Those who can, work in the UK capital and surrounding areas. There is a large immigrant community, a great deal of social division and deprivation in the otherwise well-to-do town.
On Gatehouse Road in Aylesbury there is a car garage development where there has been a lot of anti-social behaviour in recent times. This is one of the reasons why the housing association landlords have selected the spot for redevelopment – basically to gentrify the spot and build their way out of the social problems in the area.
Architects Fraser Brown Mackenna were hired to design a new, modern housing development on the site. Seven, 26 square metre container homes are to be built on the site.
Container concept
The repurposed shipping containers are to be converted into new homes off-site. This allows for construction to be done quickly and cheaply. Even so they aren’t to be ‘buy cheap-get cheap’ but rather comfortable, well insulated permanent homes.
Set at an angle to allow for a certain level of privacy for residents, each home is to have a patio at either end. Glass doors are to bring light into the homes at either end.
Within the buildings are to be an open plan living room/kitchen, a shower room/toilet and a bedroom at the rear.
To tackle the heat conduction problems associated with shipping containers, each unit is to have high quality insulation around the floors, ceilings and walls, and on the roof is to be a sedum ‘green roof’ that adds to the insulation on the top and presents a nice aesthetic quality.
Want to build affordable housing using shipping containers?
One of the great advantages of shipping container housing is that it can be made both cheaply yet of a good quality where required. This means with some thought and care, decent affordable housing can be put together with fast return on investment.
If this has triggered ideas in your own head and you are close to Brisbane, Australia, get in touch with us at Gateway Container Sales to discuss your needs.
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