Project
Shipping containers provide a cheap, unusual, and innovative solution to a refugee housing shortage in Stockholm, Sweden. This project was developed to lighten the economic burden placed on the Sweden government as refugees seeking asylum flood the country. However, this is an extremely flexible design that can be used for any number of budget-driven housing needs.
Action Items
Budget Social Justice
Emphasis Economic Diversity
vary by location
FloorPlan
Elevations
Tasha Urban containedIn 2015, more than 160,000 asylum seekers entered Sweden. Most of these asylum seekers arrived from Syria, Afghanistan, Iraq, and other areas of heated conflict. In response to this record-breaking and continual influx of people, the Swedish government enacted an asylum and reunification law that greatly restricts how many asylum seekers are granted permanent residence permits. Within the first eight months of 2018, 2,448 rejected asylum seekers were deported from Sweden. (“The Refugee Challenge”) The Global Post wrote that this law was created, in large part, to cope with the rising cost of providing food and housing for refugees.
The economic strains of refugee housing in Sweden can be relieved by the worldwide surplus of shipping containers. This design utilizes shipping containers to create efficient and dynamic housing that can be personalized and easily transported. The project showcases four modular housing units to meet the needs of varying family sizes, incomes, and locations. The ultimate goal of the design is to provide highly adjustable living options that are comfortable, compact, affordable, and relocatable.
M o t i v a t i o n
War, conflict, and terror in areas such as Iraq, Syria, Afghanistan, and Eritrea have forced a flood of refugees to flee their homelands, desperately searching for safety elsewhere. In 2015, Sweden welcomed a record 163,000 asylum seekers, more refugees per capita than any other European nation (Billner). However, only months later the country instituted border checks to cope with the staggering 10,000 new refugee arrivals each week (Moore). These and other policy changes have made it difficult for refugees to be granted asylum and reunification with family members. Because of this, the number of people applying for asylum in the Nordic country hit an “eight year low of 25,666” in 2018. Instead of encouraging the country to open its citizens to refugees, Swedish politicians now discuss “the Swedish ‘problem’” of immigration (Roden).
Officials say these policy changes are related to the “cost of processing refugees and providing them food and housing” (Hinde). By law, “Sweden must offer asylum seekers accommodation” (“The Refugee Challenge”). Last year, 509 families with children required emergency housing, forcing the government to rent rooms in local hotels and hostels at a cost that approximates $55 million a year. Often, this accommodation is the last these refugee families will have in Sweden before their applications for asylum are refused and they have to return to their own countries. “We [simply] can’t accept an unlimited number of people,” stated a council member in charge of housing policy. (Billner)
P r o b l e m
To ease the financial burdens of providing housing for those in need, and therefore allow Sweden and other applicable countries to to welcome more asylum seekers, shipping containers provide a simple solution. Shipping containers, which are cheaper to fabricate than to ship, often arrive and accumulate at a single destination instead of being reused. This has resulted in a nearly worldwide surplus of containers. These containers, while not intended as building structures, are extremely durable and inexpensive, and with a little creativity can be turned into comfortable, flexible, and affordable apartments.
M e t h o d
In order to create such apartments, there are a few basic attributes of shipping containers one needs to know. To begin with, typical containers come in two heights (8 feet or 9 feet high) and
four lengths (8 feet, 10 feet, 20 feet, or 40 feet long). The corrugated steel that containers are made of conduct heat and cold depressingly well. Shipping containers also come in different styles, including the following:
Tunnels: double doors at both ends
Open sided: doors down one complete side
Double Open sided: removable tarpaulin roof
For this project, open sided 20 foot and 40 foot containers at 9 feet high were used. The 9 foot height enabled insulation to be installed on the floor and ceiling without removing necessary head clearance. Since Sweden is not known for its balmy weather, the walls are then furred out
6.5 inches to insulated and sheetrocked. Mechanical can be built on beneath, above, or beside the containers. This makes for a cozy interior despite cold Nordic winters.
To furnish the apartments and make them not just comfortable but aesthetically pleasing, furniture and casework from IKEA in Sweden is specified. IKEA donates furniture to charitable causes each year that “assist people in need, [...] to help them make real and lasting changes in their lives and lead them to take control of their own futures”; “support and address various contributing causes of a situation to get better results” (such as alleviating financial strains that prevent the Swedish government from supporting more refugee families); are cost conscious and focused on the long term. (“Funding Decisions”) IKEA furniture and storage fixtures may be switched in and out of the container apartments depending on the needs of the apartment’s recipient(s). These donations of furniture will bring this project’s budget even lower while creating the clean, comforting look of Scandinavian design.
As for configurations, four floor plans were developed for this project. These are the simplest and most functional options, but do not include the more innovative, creative, and/or expensive layouts discarded during the design process. This project does not encompass all the opportunities shipping containers create in the way of housing, and even the options presented are templates more than plans. The layouts can be easily adjusted to the owners’ needs, as some refugee families arrive with many members, and some refugees arrive without their families. The following describe the four final designs refined to be as efficient, affordable, and adaptable as possible:
The Bachelor Pad
The so called “Bachelor Pad” is made out of a single 20 foot container. The Freedom sofa bed provides storage as well as alternative seating and bedding.
The Newlywed Apartment
This apartment consists of two 20 foot open sided shipping containers. The doors can be removed so that the containers may be welded together more cost effectively to create a more spacious apartment. IKEA’s Outside stackable bed can be arranged to form a queen sized bed for two, or stacked into a twin sized bed to provide more space. The Freedom sofa allows for more storage (and an extra bed in case the “husband” has to sleep on the couch) in the living room.
The Family Flat
The family flat is a single 40 foot container with booth seating and a dining table that can fold up to transform into the living room. A bunk bed or trundle bed (or a combination of the two) means multiple family members can sleep comfortably in the apartment.
The Reunion Apartment
The Reunion Apartment is by far the largest of the housing options, and is made from two open sided 40 foot containers. The interesting aspect to note about this option is the large bedroom with room for at least three queen sized beds. Many Middle Eastern and African cultures, of which the majority of refugees are from, have a communal mindset and prefer the sleeping quarters of the entire family to be in one space rather than divided into separate rooms. For this reason, a variety of beds can furnish the large room to provide sleeping arrangements for many family members.
R e s u l t s
The flexible and cost effective furniture, fixtures, and building materials create an affordable variety of designs that can be adapted to the needs of both the Swedish government and families in need of housing. The simple furniture, light color palette, and layouts create the clean comfort of Scandinavian design as well as a canvas for apartment owners to express themselves on. The exteriors can be painted to reflect the individual and unique tastes of those who live there, and the interiors can be decorated so that users of the space feel at home. Not only are
Tasha Urban