A house of steel

Today we went to Hanwell. This is not a suburb to be found on any tourist map, and likely won't be of interest to most tourists, but we tend to be fascinated by odd and unusual solutions to problems,  and not so long ago we had lunch in a courtyard of a street food market built entirely of steel containers fitted with kitchens and storage. It was a temporary use of a city space that has not yet been scheduled for development. But it will be. We found it interesting and unusual, and  a lot of other folk thought so, too, as the place was packed and busy all the time we were there and sold everything from slow cooked beef ribs to pho. That it was unusual allowed for a lovely flow of chatter between other diners leading to a lot of camaraderie over lunch, which was a nice spinoff, as well.

That experience stimulated our interest in container usage. And since then, we have heard of containers  being used in other parts of the world for things other than street markets: for student housing in places; for asylum seeker accommodation; for starter homes in expensive countries. And, here in Hanwell, as homes for the homeless. That really lit a spark.  We enjoy solutions like that. So, off we went, and with the help of our trusty bus and train apps, and after much practise we can get to most places in the city very efficiently by public transport.  Today we landed within 100 metres of the fairly new 'container village'.

It is not huge. The containers are stacked in a square walk behind the main street of a fairly humble but neat suburb, in an unused parking space.  Council has funded it as a quick solution to their housing crises. Some 34 containers have been stacked simply one on top of the other here.   Containers themselves are steel and solid, designed for frequent heavy loads and lifting. So it is a simple construction and keeping it simple and stackable is the least expensive key. Complications  and variations are what cost money. But these are not so simple. They are even quite stylish.

Council has added insulation, power, fitted kitchens and partitioned off bedrooms and voila! adding covered stairwells and feature timber panels as facing on the external walls they have fast homes for some 80 to 100 people who would otherwise not have accommodation, many of whom would likely have to sleep wild. The built complex doesn't take up much space, and what yard there is has been designed somewhat in the style of  a Japanese pebble garden, so it virtually needs no maintenance, which is ideal for the circumstances, but looks great.

This particular housing solution is seen as temporary for those using the village.  They can only live in the container home for so long, until they sort out a more permanent housing solution. We chatted to one of the guys here.  He was from Eastern Europe, but was  happy to talk about his home. He seemed chuffed with it and explained the layout on each floor to us: some were small single studios, others were double containers with two bedrooms.

Some of the neighbours were a bit aghast when the containers first went up in their suburb,  despite advance notice from the council.  Gradually, though, most appear to be more comfortable with council's solution to a perennial problem. And it looks fine.  It shouldn't wear too much or need a heck of a lot of maintenance, so even on-going costs should be minimised one would think.  And, the flexibility of it is exceptional-- the whole shooting match can be picked up and moved away quite easily, virtually intact, even to another location if that becomes necessary -- or, when not needed here.  A little like Lego.

So, it is a solution for the homeless that is not only durable, sustainable, recyclable and portable, but easy to maintain and comparatively reasonable. Though, I am still a huge fan of utilising existing empty buildings in a community as well. Old church buildings. Unused schools.  Empty homes.   Making them breathe again.  Pulling them back from the edge of decay. All these solutions can work, I think.  It just takes a bit of lateral thinking, commitment and care.

Container village for the homeless

Simple, stackable, stylish

Clever use of space