Cargotecture, the solution to Nigeria’s housing Crisis?
Cargotecture has fascinated me for a while, seeing fancy designs in magazines, idea competitions, as well as real-life structures made with shipping containers, got me excited about its numerous possibilities. I always wanted to do a major project with shipping containers but prior to now, my fascination has remained that, just a fascination. So, I woke up one morning and decided to do some research on how the system works, its pros, limitations and future.
Cargotecture
Cargotecture has been touted as an eco-friendly, cheap alternative to conventional build, its unconventional and distinctive look adds to the appeal. Cargotecture was coined by Hybrid Architecture, a firm in Seattle in 2004, it loosely defined it as any system built entirely or partially from ISO shipping containers. Sustainability being a major topic in the building industry has propped up cargotecture as one of the green alternatives, garnering a lot of good press along the way due to its perceived environmental benefits. The logic for using shipping containers for building homes is quite straightforward. There are many empty, and unused shipping containers around the world littering the environment. The world has a housing deficit problem, it is estimated that about 330 million household lack access to secure, affordable housing. In Nigeria, according to Gimba Kumo, Managing Director, Federal Mortgage Bank of Nigeria (FMBN) in 2015, Nigeria had a housing deficit of 17 to 20 million units. Taking these containers off the docks and environment and upcycling for housing seems like a logical solution, killing two birds with one stone, right?
Shipping Containers
Shipping containers are strong modular steel boxes of different sizes built for storage, shipping and handling. The standard ISO shipping containers come in two sizes, 20ft (6.06m) and 40ft (12.2m) and are both 8ft (2.44m) wide and 8ft 6in (2.6m) tall the 40ft container is the most popular and most commonly used for cargotecture, you can, however, get extra tall shipping containers called high-cube containers, they are 9ft 6in (2.89m) high. Every shipping container has six planes, the floor, top and four sides, the sides are corrugated to tolerate loads and pressure that might occur during loading and transportation. There are strict prescriptive methods for stacking containers on the docks and on ships, shipping containers are built to be stacked on the corners and not crisscross with cantilevers that are very popular in most of the designs seen in magazines and design competitions. To achieve crisscrossing, they will need to be reinforced.
Examples
There are many good examples of shipping containers used in the built environment, residential, commercial, institutional and in some cases public infrastructure. The ease of assembly, cleaner construction site, as well as the standardized sizes, make it a versatile architectural tool with infinite possibilities. As earlier mentioned, Cargotecture has been peddled as the new shining solution to the housing crisis, so it is no surprise that there have been many different interpretations of the building form, from disaster relief, affordable housing to luxurious designs. In Nigeria, Tempohousing is doing good work in trying to bring affordable housing to many Nigerians, Kamrod as well. Commercial and institutional use is where I see the long-term future of Cargotecture, the variety of its expression is extraordinary, from the well-executed Puma City, the APAP OpenSchool in South Korea, to the Driveline Studios in South Africa to name a few.
Pros & limitations
Is Cargotecture the solution to Nigeria’s housing crisis? Probably not. Transforming a shipping container to habitable spaces is no easy task, it involves a lot of energy and technical expertise. There are a lot of things to consider if you ever want to go down that path.
1. Structure: Containers are built to be stacked like Legos on each other and the weight is transferred down the corners of the container, when stacked otherwise, reinforcements will need to be introduced, the longer sides of the containers carry the brunt of the load, whenever openings are made there, they will need to be compensated for.
2. Insulation: This one of the most important issues, because containers are hot or cold death traps without insulation due to the fact they are primarily made of steel. There are different insulation types and techniques, some prefer to insulate the interiors to maintain the allure of the container look, this, however, reduces the effective living space. Others don’t care much for the ‘look’ and insulate the exterior and in some cases both sides, Tempohousing, for example, uses wood loggings, plywood, plasterboards or PVC for the interiors, depending on the client or project. Externally, they use either Alucobond cladding (aluminium cladding) or cement fibre, which is significantly cheaper. The insulation used depends on what the space will be used for and what part of the world it is in.
3. Size: The average headroom of houses in Nigeria is almost 10ft (3m), regular containers are less than 9ft (2.59m), the extra tall ones are 9ft 6in (2.89m) tall, considerably less than the average headroom and this is before insulation and services like plumbing and HVAC have been installed. The width at 2.4m is barely large enough to fit in a double bed, and if you want to make the container double wide for more space, you will need extra reinforcements. The biggest problem is that container spaces were designed for cars and goods but not for human beings.
4. Toxicity: Many containers are sprayed with a lot of toxic chemicals like chromate, phosphorous and lead-based paints to make the containers durable for ocean travel. Majority of the wooden floors in shipping container buildings are infused with chemical pesticides containing hazardous chemicals like arsenic and chromium. There is also the possibility that some of the used containers might have carried something toxic in the past. The entire structure will need to be sandblasted bare for it to be habitable.
5. Lifespan: New shipping containers have a lifespan of 30 years, while used containers vary from 10 to 20, it is advisable to utilize one-trip containers when building because they are still durable and can be easily managed.
6. Cost: This is not very straightforward and often the most important factor for most people. Cost varies depending on what you’re trying to achieve. The cost of used containers is relatively cheap, as you can find them between 400,000 and 800,000 naira. If a permanent structure is being erected, and concrete will need to be poured into the foundation, the difference between a conventional build and using shipping containers would become marginal as foundations take a huge portion of building budget. Insulation can make any project very expensive, depending on the type of materials to be used and whether the container would be insulated internally and externally. For containers not stacked naturally, steel reinforcements will have to be introduced and these reinforcements are quite expensive, it makes more fiscal sense to construct a steel frame and use prefab materials in most cases, as you’ll get more value for money and a more ergonomic space. Shipping container homes make sense for areas with immediate shelter needs as well as scarce resources. While the basic structure might be cheaper than concrete based housing, the structure, design and selection of finishes can make it considerably more expensive.
Conclusion
Cargotecture for all its flaws has its good uses, while I don’t see its long-term future in housing, I do believe it will function more for temporary spaces like site offices, temporary hostels, and commercial spaces. And if you want to use shipping containers for your building project ensure you have enough information and the technical expertise to implement your vision.
