Debbie Glassberg, a Kansas City resident and toy designer, has been the talk of the town since construction began on her modern, eco-friendly home made entirely of steel shipping containers.
The building process began in early 2009 after the containers arrived from China, with Glassberg and her boyfriend serving as contractors. They enlisted the help of local architecture firm BNIM Architects to create a design for the house. Standard shipping containers are 8 feet wide and 40 feet long, but the containers used to create Glassberg’s home are larger: three are 12 feet tall, and the remaining two measure 9.5 feet in height.
According to details published in a Kansas City Star story, the containers used in Glassberg’s home are designed as separate units, so they’re able to be moved to a different location.
Although shipping containers have been used to create homes, offices, studios and other structures throughout the world, their use is catching on more slowly here in the U.S. Experts estimate that Glassberg’s home may be the first of its kind in Kansas City.
In addition to the environmental efficiency involved in reusing these massive containers, other eco-friendly practices are illustrated throughout Glassberg’s home. As Kansas City Star reporter Stacy Downs wrote, “The house will use eco-friendly technologies, including sugar beet foam insulation, geothermal heating and cooling, bamboo flooring, tankless water heaters and LED lighting. A Kansas City Art Institute student is designing rain-barrel benches. The roof will be planted and used as a patio.”
For a closer look at Glassberg’s home during the construction process, check out Apartment Therapy’s photo gallery.
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