The Top 10 Shipping Container Articles on the Web

Look, we love to write articles about shipping containers, and think that we do an absolutely awesome job at it, but we aren’t the only ones doing really cool stuff with shipping containers. Here’s a look at some of what we think are the best shipping container articles and blogposts out there.
The Top 10 Shipping Container Articles on the Web
We checked out Buzzsumo and based on comments, likes and social media shares, here are the top 10 most popular shipping container articles on the internet for the first half of 2015!
1. True Activist: You Can Turn A $2000 Shipping Container Into An Epic Off-Grid Home
With second hand shipping containers being widely available and only costing around a few thousand dollars, it doesn’t take much to start building some awesome cargotecture constructions. They look at 15 inspirational designs in a Buzzfeed style listicle ranging from simple, single, off grid homes to complex stacked constructions made from multiple 40 foot shipping containers.

Image Source: True Activist
2. The Mind Unleashed: 22 Most Beautiful Houses Made From Shipping Containers
Another listicle style article aimed at the off-grid, hippie style audience that’s gained an impressive 84,000 shares. The Mind Unleashed take 22 of their favourite homes constructed by recycled shipping containers. With a focus on “residential nonconformism” (whatever that is) they keep pushing the mythical idea of the $2000 shipping container home. That said, they’ve got some pretty cool pictures of shipping containers in the article, and it’s great inspiration for anyone looking at making the giant leap towards living in our favourite big metal boxes. Be prepared for lots of pictures, and to be honest – for that fact alone it’s a personal favourite.

Image Source: The Mind Unleased
3. Tiny House For Us: 20′ Shipping Container With A Rooftop Deck and Room for Four
Shipping containers have been incredibly popular with the Tiny House Movement, and this great house is a perfect example. Built in Costa Rica by firm Cubica, this home makes the ultimate countryside vacation home, bachelor pad or party place with a huge rooftop deck. Completely portable, with LED lighting, cleverly designed furniture and appliances that efficiently use the space at hand, this cosy house might be small on the outside, but is huge inside. You can even pull down an extra bed from the wall when you’ve got a few guests over. The sliding doors open up almost the full length of the house, giving it an even more spacious feel when open.

Image Source: Tiny House For Us
4. USA Today: Apartments for students start with shipping containers
Just north of Houston in Texas is a great new housing complex being constructed from recycled shipping containers. Starting with a base of 36 containers, a 4 storey complex made out of three separate buildings will consist of 24 separate high efficiency buildings – each totalling 540 square feet. Each of these tiny apartments has the illusion of spaciousness, housing a bathtub, walk in closet, kitchen and dining area, as well as living space and somewhere to sleep.
5. Collective Evolution: What 10 Container Home Owners Wish They’d Known Before Building
In this article, they talk to 22 different owners of shipping container homes about the things that they wished they knew, covering issues and pieces of advice ranging from how to purchase the right shipping container for the job, how to deal with councils and local government, and of course, finding a skilled contractor who can work with the materials quickly and effectively. Other things to consider are your environment, for instance, how will sun affect the temperature inside the container and how will you ventilate it effectively to prevent condensation, what to do in windy regions and other considerations you might not have thought about.

Image Source: Collective Evolution
6. This is Collossal: An Architectural Canvas of Shipping Containers Painted With Greek Gods
And now for something completely different. Graffiti artists Pichi & Avo from Germany have used stacked shipping containers to make a giant canvas dedicated to the ancient Greek gods for a street art festival in Belgium.There’s not much else to say about this one, except WOW! If only all shipping containers ended up this beautiful.

Image Source: This is Collossal
7. Fast Company Design: Taco Bell Builds Its First Shipping Container Store
If you are into independent music, you’ve probably heard of the SXSW festival and conference in Austin, Texas. Well chain fast food restaurant Taco Bell opened up a pop up shop with a difference this time around. It took only three days to build and only half the space footprint of a traditional white Taco Bell shop, making it a simple, but impressive construction. Fast Company notes that other companies such as Starbucks are also picking up on the trend, making it a great way to rapidly expand cheaply and quickly to new locations across the country. The first container holds the food “assembly line” while the second container has the managers office and storage. A third, seemingly useless container on top actually houses the air-conditioning and cooling equipment while parts of other shipping containers are welded to the outside hold the bathrooms. Simple, but effective – we like it!

Image Source: http://www.fastcodesign.com/3043731/taco-bell-builds-its-first-shipping-container-store
8. Inhabitat: Freight Farms may be the future of sustainable food
A topic that we’ve covered in the past, and one that we hope keeps “growing”, urban farming in shipping containers.

Image Source: Inhabitat
9. Inhabitat: Ireland’s first shipping container home was built in just three days
This article shows exactly how fast it is to turn a simple shipping container into a cosy home. This home built in Ireland was constructed in only three days on the site of the Irish Museum of Modern Art. Completely sustainable, it’s powered by solar energy, and once built it was donated to charity. The Saint Vincent De Paul Society used it to house a homeless family. Another example of how shipping containers can be repurposed into cheap, environmentally friendly housing for those in need.

Image Source: Inhabitat
10. Treehugger: Montainer makes shipping container architecture easy
American company Montainer is doing a great job of making simple, out of the box, shipping container houses. By using 24″ high cube containers, they give the houses a little bit of much appreciated extra space to live in. The houses are well insulated and fit in a whole load of amenities, including a three piece, marine style bathroom. Montainer keep it simple, handling all aspects of the build, from sourcing the container, to construction and permitting. It does cost considerably more than simply building a shipping container home yourself, but they do include all of the hidden costs that often catch budding cargotects unawares and additional expansion modules are far lower priced than the base using taking this into account.

Image Source: Tree Hugger
What did we miss out? Leave your suggestions in the comments.
Got You Inspired? Why Don’t You Give Us A Call?
Don’t stay up all night wondering why you haven’t started your next shipping container project, give the team at Gateway Container Sales & Hire a call now and we’ll talk you through everything you need to know. Whether it’s building a custom storefront made from shipping containers, a remote office in the desert, a new cargotecture home, or simply a big box to stick your stuff in, we’ll know what’s right for you. Contact us now!