Brilliant 20ft Shipping Container Home – The Pod-Tainer
Shipping container homes have undoubtably exploded in popularity over the past few years and that’s no surprise. The lack of affordable housing options in many areas has lead more people searching for alternative options. As far as those options go, shipping containers make a lot of sense. They are easily transported and are structurally sound. That makes a great starting point for an affordable and quality home.
In Shane Blind’s case, this 20ft shipping container home was actually constructed as a guest house. As his wife is from China, they frequently have members of her family coming to visit them in New Zealand. His family live in a small house themselves and so they needed an extra place to enable guests to stay. A shipping container was the perfect solution.
Inside this tiny home, the design is simple, yet brilliantly executed. The smaller the space, the harder it is to make the design work and in this case Shane has really risen to the challenge. Care and attention has been passionately applied to all aspects of the home, which uses carefully planned zones and nifty design tricks to help make the space functional and flow together nicely.
To help add extra space, special ‘pods’ have been attached to the sides of the shipping container, greatly helping to expand the useable interior area. These pods house the bathroom on one side of the container and a special lounge alcove on the other. The alcove is an ideal size to relax during the day and is also large enough to double as an additional sleeping space should it be required.
In the bedroom, a comfortable queen-sized bed has been raised off the ground providing plenty of storage space underneath. The open area below allows for suitcases to easily be stowed and accessed under the bed and provides a huge capacity for any other items that need to find a home.
A basic yet very functional kitchen space has been built into the home. As the design of this container is predominantly for guests, there will simply be a microwave in the house and no stove but this could easily be added in the future if required.
Opposite the kitchen is a small table used for dining as well as a potential work-space. The table is positioned to take advantage of the spectacular farm-views afforded by the large glass sliding door.
Comprised of a shower, a small basin and a flusing toilet, the bathroom is again very simple, but completely practical. The style is very similar to that of a conventional ensuite-bathroom and manages to fit perfectly into one of the shipping container’s attached pods.
Remarkably, this shipping container home was constructed for only NZ$28,000 (US$20,000) not including Shane’s labour. When you consider that figure is less than the average Aucklander pays for a years rent, it really does show how this can be a viable and comfortable way for people to get into their first homes. Watch the video above for the full tour and more info.
