The ultimate in upcycling: Shipping containers become floating home

Could these floating dwellings help ease our housing crisis?

The Urban Rigger has just been launched onto Copenhagen’s harbour, a unique carbon neutral structure comprising of nine shipping containers.

Created by Danish architectural firm Bjarke Ingles Group (BIG), the building has been designed as a low-cost floating hall of residents for the city’s students.

The containers have been stacked onto a floating platform to create 15 studio residences over two levels.

Being assembled at angles means the structure has allowed for a triangular shared garden in the centre.

“In terms of sea level rise – it’s the only building type that will never flood,” wrote BIG partner Kai-Uwe Bergmann on his Facebook page.

Windows and doors have been cut out at each end of the containers, and each upper level container roof provides a different function. One is covered with solar panels, another a grassy knoll and the third a terrace.

Other amenities in the floating dwelling include a kayak landing, a bathing platform and a barbecue area. Downstairs, below sea level, the pontoon basement features 12 storage zones, a technical room and a laundry. 

The design also includes a number of environmentally sustainable solutions, including hydro source heating, solar power and low energy pumps.

The concept was to developed to help ease the housing situation for students in Europe, as well as tapping into the thousands of kilometres of unused harbour, canal and river space across the world.

With Copenhagen’s harbour undergoing significant redevelopment, it was considered a great place to launch the project. Each year in the city thousands of students wind up on a list of people in urgent need of a place to live.

“The Urban Rigger is the first in a potential fleet of mobile, sustainable dwellings, for students, refugees and others, in urgent need of a home,” the company says.

This story was first published at Stuff.co.nz