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Shipping Container Architecture in Toronto

DMAN

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Hey everyone!

Personally i find architecture from shipping containers quite interesting and intrigued by some of the design made around the world...
I wanted to ask if anyone is aware of torontos building departments take on passing projects made from shipping containers. Are they reluctant to pass these types of projects? Has this been tried on a larger scale (15,000sq.ft commercial space) and failed to pass certain regulations.

Also could anyone recommend any toronto/ontario based architects/engineers that have had experience with designing projects with shipping containers.

regards,
Dman
 
Not sure what the City would say about shipping containers being used for residential space, but I do know that architectural firm Levitt Goodman used a shipping container as an element in the Evergreen Brickworks project. If you contact them they might be willing to answer some questions for you.
 
Many examples in London, UK; the Boxpark project is very well known...here's a multi-level example:

trinity-buoy-wharf-25.jpg


shippingcargocontainerhouse.jpg
 
My building science profs are always peeved with the fact that people are still trying to make "shipping container architecture" happen. There are many great uses for shipping containers, but turning them into inhabitable spaces is not one of them*. They have poor thermal performance, a ton of embodied energy and material is required to retrofit them into something liveable, and they aren't a nice space to be in. The walls are too thin, there's no room to place services, and their proportions are not to a good dimension for human beings to inhabit. Of all the uses for shipping containers, and of all the great reusable materials out there, why do people continue to insist on using shipping containers as homes/buildings?

*Perhaps in desperate situations such as refugee crises, they could be used as a solution, but in the case that we have resources to actually design something that is suitable for a human being, why would a shipping container be considered a favourable option?
 
My building science profs are always peeved with the fact that people are still trying to make "shipping container architecture" happen. There are many great uses for shipping containers, but turning them into inhabitable spaces is not one of them*. They have poor thermal performance, a ton of embodied energy and material is required to retrofit them into something liveable, and they aren't a nice space to be in. The walls are too thin, there's no room to place services, and their proportions are not to a good dimension for human beings to inhabit. Of all the uses for shipping containers, and of all the great reusable materials out there, why do people continue to insist on using shipping containers as homes/buildings?

*Perhaps in desperate situations such as refugee crises, they could be used as a solution, but in the case that we have resources to actually design something that is suitable for a human being, why would a shipping container be considered a favourable option?

It seems that using shipping containers is a huge waste of steel. It would probably be better to recycle the old containers and use far less structural steel to build something with better proportions.

For quick hacks, it seems kind of cool though. And maybe for certain types of modular building that get shipped around or something... But overall, I don't get the hype.
 
It seems that using shipping containers is a huge waste of steel. It would probably be better to recycle the old containers and use far less structural steel to build something with better proportions.

For quick hacks, it seems kind of cool though. And maybe for certain types of modular building that get shipped around or something... But overall, I don't get the hype.

Shipping container are a specific type of steel - CORTEN - it is designed to maintain its strength while weathering/rusting and the energy/resources required to recycle the steel into a reusable element would be ridiculous. They make a great platform for application re-use after circling the globe for 10 to 15 years.
 

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