Industrial housing: Shipping container home taking shape in southeast Cedar Rapids

CEDAR RAPIDS — The home you live in is likely made of wood, brick, stone, even plastic or glass.

You probably can't trace its roots to coastal shipyards.

But a single-family house under construction in southeast Cedar Rapids has those roots. It's being built almost entirely from steel shipping containers, those used in ports of call around the world — and it's the first of its kind in the city.

'It's a steep learning curve,' said John Armon, vice president of Cargohab, the Cedar Rapids-based partnership undertaking the project at 527 30th Street Dr. SE.

The idea for the project began a few years ago, when Armon became interested in using a container as a secluded cabin. He became interested in the possibilities of shipping container construction, and that interest grew when a friend showed him photos of the Las Vegas Container Park, a commercial development that's part of a revitalization project in the older downtown portion of Las Vegas.

'I was very intrigued by that,' he said.

Armon connected with other partners — Fred and Joann Zehr, Justin Zehr and Casey Cornwell — and together, they decided to proceed when a residential lot came on the market near their homes.

'It popped up very quickly,' Armon said. 'Justin saw the lot and said we should buy it.'

A traditional 900-square-foot foundation sits under the 1,800-square-foot home, and four shipping containers were dropped into place earlier this month by a 75-ton industrial crane — two adjacent on ground level, two more placed above to form a two-story structure overall. The containers have been welded to each other and to steel plates on the foundation, but otherwise, little has been done thus far to transform them into a traditional home.

As currently planned, the house will have two bedrooms and include traditional interior construction framing and materials, from lighting and plumbing to ceilings and flooring. Two more bedrooms, a family room and a second bathroom could be added to the basement level, depending on a buyer's interests. The large swinging doors on the ends of the containers will be removed in favor of more conventional entrances, but the doors may be incorporated into the interior design, Armon said.

It's anticipated the finished product will combine a modern, industrial feel with contemporary touches.

'It will kind of fit the entire idea of using containers — the look and feel,' he said. 'There's going to be a combination of stuff.'

Working With the City

The use of shipping containers in construction isn't new, according to Marty Kelzer, partial owner/operator of A-1 Storage Solutions in Manchester, which supplied the containers for Cargohab's project. Kelzer said people have repurposed the containers for cabins, hunting shacks, 'man caves' and even as reinforcements for home foundations in recent years.

'For a lot of these people, it's instant square footage,' he said.

But, he said the Cargohab project is a step beyond what he's seen previously.

'We haven't had the people go through all the hoops that Cargohab did to make this happen,' he said.

Kevin Ciabatti, director of the Cedar Rapids Building Services Department, said he and his staff met with Armon and his Cargohab partners many times as the project took shape. The preliminary design and site plan came together as any other home construction project, but the difference came with the plan to use shipping containers as a building material.

'They had to verify the structural capacity and load limits of a shipping container,' he said. 'Essentially, this product is not defined anywhere in the code book.'

The project also had to meet size standards for single-family residential construction, Ciabatti said. A single container wouldn't meet a minimum width of 22 feet and minimum living area of 660 square feet, so a total of four containers were needed.

'We're actually excited to see someone try to use shipping containers for projects like this,' Ciabatti said. 'It's great that (city) code gives us the parameters to make this happen.

'It wasn't something we automatically said no to,' he added. 'We really wanted to make this work.'

'It was a complicated process, for sure,' Armon noted. One of the biggest challenges was finding an engineering company to design the home. An Oregon company eventually provided the needed drawings, he said.

Neighbors React

Area homeowners contacted by The Gazette seemed generally comfortable with the project.

'I think it's cool,' said Heather McGillivray, whose family is just moving into the neighborhood. 'I like the idea. I think it makes the neighborhood more interesting, and I think it makes Cedar Rapids more interesting.'

Another neighbor, Joe Hartman, said Cargohab has been open with residents about their plans so far. 'It's interesting,' he said. 'It looks like it might potentially be a good result. It has potential.'

For Barb and Mel Swanson, the main concern thus far has been increased traffic from onlookers interested in the home's progress.

'I think it's a good idea,' said Barb Swanson, who added she appreciates the idea of reusing and recycling the shipping containers for new purposes.

'That Shipping Container Look'

That 'green,' recycled element isn't lost on the Cargohab developers, Armon said.

Not only are the containers readily available — it's often cheaper for shipping companies to abandon or scrap the containers than to return them to their original ports — but they're highly wind and fire resistant.

Armon said the home will likely be priced competitively with other new homes of similar size and features, but it's not yet clear if using the containers provides cost advantages compared to traditional construction.

'There are gives and takes,' he said. 'We're kind of discovering this throughout the process.'

The home will be highly energy efficient, fully insulated and solar capable, Armon said. And while it will incorporate some traditional exterior touches — a pitched roof, two-car garage and a solarium stair tower — and will be painted, its industrial roots won't be lost.

'It'll certainly have that shipping container look, dents and all,' he said. 'And there are people out there who are already interested in this. Obviously there's some novelty aspect to it. But those who are interested in recycling and having a home that's highly efficient — there are a lot of things about the home that are highly appealing.'

The project is serving as a 'proof of concept,' Armon said. If it's successful and profitable, Cargohab may undertake more storage container construction projects in the area, both residential and commercial, he said.

Armon said the goal is to have the home completed in time to be featured on the Greater Cedar Rapids Housing & Building Association's annual Fall Parade of Homes in early October. Hitting that goal, Armon said, will be a challenge. But he said hopefully, subsequent projects will incorporate efficiencies to make the process smoother.

'There are still a lot of unknowns for us,' he said. 'The learning curve is huge. We want to see what the demand is. We may build only one, but it'd be cool if this took off.

'We think the options are endless.'