Affordable shipping container village can pop up almost anywhere in the world

Copenhagen is consistently ranked as one of the world’s most livable cities, but unfortunately not all can afford to live there.

Luckily, CPH Shelter is bringing affordable housing to the city in the form of a modular cargotecture village. Built with organic materials and upcycled shipping containers, the eco-friendly CPH Shelters offer a plug-and-play housing solution that can be moved and installed almost anywhere in the world.

Designed as “an answer to global housing challenges” and “the circular economy,” the CPH Shelter marries Scandinavian craftsmanship with eco-friendly materials. The homes are made from upcycled shipping containers, which were chosen for ease and affordability of transport, and to keep building costs to a minimum. The modular designs can be easily transformed from single housing units to larger multi-generational housing or other uses.

Healthy and eco-friendly materials are one of the CPH Shelter’s main priorities. The interior is mostly finished in organic materials, such as unpainted timber, and is equipped with an award-winning ventilation system to monitor and ensure good indoor air quality. The materials and construction details will be made visible and accessible so that tenants can easily swap out materials and carry out maintenance. Large windows let in generous amounts of natural light. Each unit will include a kitchen, living room, bedroom, as well as an integrated and multifunctional storage space. Inhabitants will also have access to a rooftop terrace with space for urban gardening and entertaining.

Mobility is also a big factor in the design of the CPH Shelter. The architects have nicknamed the unit “a houseboat on land” because of how easy it is to move the home to a new location. A typical 30-square-meter CPH Shelter can be disassembled, shipped out, and reassembled in a different location in less than a day. A shelter can be produced and delivered in approximately three months and can be placed on point foundations or steel screws. Insulated for year-round living, the low-energy CPH Shelters are also designed for water, sewage, heat pump-based heating, and electricity. Since there is no need to dig a foundation, the flexible housing development can be easily and temporarily set up in empty industrial areas and then moved from those areas once they’re zoned for further development.

“CPH Shelter can be shipped anywhere in the world and can thus contribute to solving global resettlement issues linked to urbanization in the coming decades,” says a statement on the CPH Shelter website. “CPH Shelter can also be used for sustainable and flexible settlements for some of the millions of people who are fleeing across the world these years.”