Skip to main content

You might live in a shipping container home, if it was this amazing

As far as trends go, few movements are as considered wholly “in” as fashioning a house out of something that’s otherwise reserved for an activity completely unrelated to housing. This week, it’s an innovative (and gorgeous) shipping container home located in Pichincha, Ecuador, which perfectly encapsulates its unique source material while remaining a pleasant place for one to lay their head.

Dream Homes: 3 Atelier’s gorgeous home is the epitome of a modern tree house

Perhaps even more intriguing is the fact that whenever the owner feels the itch to move, they have the ability to simply disassemble the home and transport the modules to wherever they see fit. Comfortable? Check. Portable? Check. Unusual?  Check, check.

Designed and built by the architecture powerhouse couple Daniel Moreno Flores and Sebastian Calero, the shipping container home makes primary use out of, well, old shipping containers. Because of this, it exudes industrial style at nearly every corner as not only is the exterior completely reminiscent of the containers but the interior as well. The duo decided to keep the spirit of the containers to appease its client, who is an avid mechanic with special interests in motorcycles and cars while also maintaining a long-held affinity for clocks.

“When the owner was a little kid, he wanted to decipher the mechanisms of old clocks,” Flores and Calero said. “His passion for mechanics drove him into motorbikes and Land Rover cars. He was interested in a very didactic, utilitarian, and dismantable house (in the understanding of the pieces in the manner of the mechanics of these vehicles). Constructive solutions had to be visible, no matter their manufacture. When we understood this direct connection to metal, the idea and the desire to live in a container house appeared. One of the main reasons to experiment with this material was the energy saving.”

Making use of seven 20-foot containers and one 40-foot container, the duo started out by playing to its client’s needs and figuring out how to construct the home to disassemble like parts of a clock. During the process, each container’s factory paint was removed from the exterior while interior portions were painted in white or outfit with beautiful wood paneling. This approach to the inside of the home makes it uncannily cozy and livable.

Furthermore, the addition of indoor-outdoor patios and windows designed to let as much outside light pour in as possible, Flores and Calero’s home embraces the nearby Ecuadorian landscape. It may be a home made out of shipping containers but it’s perfect use of space and pairing with Ecuador’s beautiful environment make this as enviable an abode as we’ve seen.

Editors' Recommendations

Rick Stella
Former Digital Trends Contributor
Rick became enamored with technology the moment his parents got him an original NES for Christmas in 1991. And as they say…
Google Home’s web preview is live — and it’s missing most features
google home web preview 2

If you've got a Nest camera and have been dying to give it a go as part of Google's new web preview, it's time. Head to home.google.com and have a look. Just be prepared to be largely underwhelmed and to remind yourself that it indeed is in preview status.

The Google Home web preview is live, but sparse. You can view cameras (here, in a grid), but that's it. Image used with permission by copyright holder

Read more
The Google Home app finally has the big redesign you’ve been waiting for
Google Home icon on home screen.

A new, major Google Home design overhaul is coming soon to the delight of users everywhere. Many have been unhappy with the Google Home app's UI for quite some time as its streamlined approach to providing information seemingly took some agency away from smart home device owners. The new redesign, however, aims to give users more control over their devices and settings than ever before.

While the redesign certainly retains a more straightforward, minimalist look to its UI elements, the settings themselves are as abundant as ever — giving users full control over every aspect of their smart home. The newfound control doesn't end with more granular settings, however, as the redesign is meant to be fully customizable so that users can prioritize the aspects of smart home living most applicable to them.

Read more
Fluid One gives you point-and-click control of your smart home, from your smartphone
Fluid One app showing the AR room map and devices.

Ever wished you could use your smartphone to control your smart home, beyond just pulling up an app to turn something on or off? We're now starting to see companies create actual functionality around the Matter initiative. Fluid, a relative newcomer to the smart home field, is building a service on top of Matter to allow you to control smart devices around your home simply by pointing your phone at the device.

Fluid calls this new service Fluid One. You can point your phone at a device, and it will automatically and immediately show you options to control said device. The service also allows for location-based automation and gesture controls. For example, imagine walking around your home and having lights automatically turning on or off depending on how close you are to them.

Read more