German architectural studio Slawik has created a portable home that fits into the size of a standard shipping container. Dubbed HomeBox, the multi-purpose home has been designed so it can be easily transported to various locations for temporary or permanent use. Due to its compact size and transportability the home can also double as emergency housing.

Though we’ve seen various homes made out of shipping containers, the idea of a house designed to fit inside a container is rather different.

“The bearing construction is from wood and measures to fit into an international standard freight container,” Slawik’s leading architect Prof. Han Slawik told Gizmag. “Therefore after the first use you can easily transport and re-use the HomeBox to other places around the world.”

With a small base footprint of just 75 ft2, the HomeBox differentiates itself from traditional container homes by being positioned upright and not on the longer side. The base measures approximately 9.5 ft by 7.9 ft and thus the home is reminiscent of a small tower, requiring significantly less space than regular compact homes.

“There are many gap sites within cities which can be used for temporary small removable houses,” said Prof. Slawik. “Furthermore you can configure the modules to create a container village or even a container city…”

HomeBoxes will soon be available for purchase with a starting price of approximately US$32,500. Bulk purchases of 10–15 HomeBoxes can be bought at a discounted rate.

I’ll have to check with my old construction mates and see if this meets code. I’ve done a bit of work with converted shipping containers; but, never with the module size turned on end.

Looks interesting to me.