Thought Id start this one going because its rather dead on this board at the moment and I suppose all my usual muckers are either at the Stella tennis event watching Dim Tim (lose again) or at Henly Regatta eating cucumber sandwiches (they wish,...NOT).

Anyway please feel free to just talk to yourself blast away and let it go on any company or subject you wish. Just wish Id thought of this one before.

cheers GF.

Container accommodation works very well

http://www.containercity.com

It is used as offices and there are people living there permanently.

I won't try to persuade people who have never been in a container, let alone tried to modify one for permanent accommodation. Others have already written on the subject.

http://markasaurus.com/2015/09/01/whats-wrong-with-shipping-container-housing-everything/

trust me - it works very well!

there are several companies that convert containers to offices and accommodation to a high standard, but it's certainly not something your average joe should try
these are used all over the world including inhospitable places like m/e oilfields

everyone forgets that the original prefabs were only meant to last about 10 years, but a few are still around even now ...... in comparison, a steel container has a life of at least 10 years and, if memory serves me right, there are many still travelling the oceans at 20+ years

I'm with iturama on this, people without the faintest idea of the problems are the only ones who will go for tin sheds as accommodation.

This is a not so novel idea, and it might even work, as long as you ignore the infrastructure requirements: But at the end of the day, they are only well insulated boxes.



http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-3812816/Big-World-Home-s-flat-pack-house-IKEA-steroids-answer-Australian-housing-crisis.html

so is a house!

all the infrastructure problems are a virtual irrelevance for they apply whatever the houses are made from

Q - do we need a lot more affordable housing?
A - assuredly so

Q - do you have any experience of offices and more made from containers?
A - you to answer

Q - as above but specifically to cynic?
A - yes

c, I think you have bin at the lolly water.

Clue: Don't confuse portacabin type accommodation with steel container boxes.


As for built in the factory "houses"..yes, I would live in one, especially if it was to the standard of the type I stayed in in Florida.

You're getting excited again C. As a Chartered Engineer and a Fellow of my Institute for more years than I care to remember, I am with Maxk on this. And yes, as I mentioned earlier I have used and lived in containers on project sites. Containers have their applications but there are more practical solutions as far as homes are concerned. IMO.

sorry old bean, but i very much know the difference between portacabins and accommodation of all kinds built from dry freight containers .... and have experience of both

ok IT, so now expound and expand on your "more practical solutions" that are both quick and cheap to construct

Post WW11 type prefabs using modern materials.

Can be factory fabricated, good insulation/ventilation build in, electrics and plumbing can be pre- installed too...all ready to be bolted together onto a prepared pad.



Now for the awkward bit: where do you put them?

Wales

just a small correction - containers are welded not bolted together and (of course) are fitted out to be easily lifted with a forklift

i don't thing the space is so much of a problem insofar as there are (surely) plenty of suitable brownfield sites, and even if only relatively temporary, the building companies and others have large land banks, much with at least outline planning permission

Well you couldn't put them in Liverpool Chris they'd all be stolen before anyone moved in.

But they would blend in nicely with all the cars with no wheels :-)

:0)

C
By affordable housing, I assume you mean social housing as defined by the government. High rise flats should be an answer but are not except for those that are prepared to pay the cost of the continuing maintenance through condominium charges etc. The lesson from the 60's is that a minority of very unsociable families can make life hell for the rest, with grafitti, lifts damaged and common areas generally vandalised.
Steel boxes less than 8' wide are not the answer either. Hotel corridors are wider but are not used for accomodation. Normally anyhow.
I believe that social housing should be no more than 3 stories high, attractive to live in and well built so as to minimise running costs. Building costs can be reduced by reducing the construction time. A very large proportion of the cost is in labour, land purchase costs aside. So pre-construction in a workshop makes a lot of sense in order to reduce the cost of plumbers, electricians, carpenters etc. Dry walls reduce the need for plasterers.
In the USA, concrete forming techniques are now used in which walls, floor slabs and columns are poured as one unit. Prefabricated aluminium forms are used that can be assembled much faster than the traditional timber forms. Load bearing columns are roughly 30' apart, with interior non load bearing walls built later. The idea is to get the skeleton support structure up quickly, put the roof on, then finish off without worrying about weather delays or damage. As is the requirement today, insulation is a key part of the design to reduce energy costs. The apartment sizes can be varied to suit the demand.
Obviously people want to live close to jobs, schools and amenities so the land available, MOD land for example, is of no use if people don't want to live there. Retirement communities are one possible way to free up housing stock in towns.

a standard container is 20 x 8' x 8'6" but of course can easily be cut through and joined in modules, so that particular argument of yours is a nonsense

Have it your way. Let me know when you buy one and don't forget to buy a welding set to hang your pictures. :) May be useful for heating the place in winter also. Some have been used in Brighton I believe but the council provides free power over the winter months due to the exorbitant heating costs. No doubt they can be used in emergency, better than a tent, but for permanent homes? No thanks.

amazingly efficient is modern insulation both to keep heat in or out
how else would they be able to use them in m/e in the oifields?

I was at Container City at Trinity Buoy Wharf this morning for breakfast at a very good cafe made out of a container. There are several five story office and housing blocks there. Heating is no problem. They are well insulated. There is a massive unit made of containers which houses the first year of the Royal Drawing School.