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Main living area, with the kitchen in the background.

customized single-family homes. It was about then that Arun second story of the house, compact bedrooms and bathrooms
Arumugaswamy and his wife discovered him while doing their occupy the two upper-level containers. The entire structure sits
own research on container construction. on a concrete foundation/basement.
“We had looked at this site several times,” explained The exterior of the house is a mix of black corrugated
Arumugaswamy, “but kept walking away because it seemed container steel and black-stained wood cladding. The rear
too narrow and steeply sloped.” However, they eventually façade is fully glazed and the floor-to-ceiling windows provide
asked Price to take a look and the architect immediately saw the dramatic views out to the wooded slope and the creek below.
potential in the property. Very quickly, the clients were at the A rear deck opening from the main living space surveys the
Port of Baltimore selecting four lightly used containers for their same vista. Several extended glass-and-steel “bump-outs”
new home and calling in an air quality specialist to check for serve to widen the interior spaces; provide views left, right,
any possible contamination from toxic cargo. and skyward; and allow natural light to flood into the home.
Many container homes include some component of And as an additional design element, two skylights—one in the
conventional building construction. This “hybrid” approach central living area and one over the stair—further connect the
allows far greater design flexibility and more open floor plans. interior to the outdoors. Many of the home’s large windows are
In this project, the house is formed by four containers stacked protected with shutters fabricated from container steel, which
two high and set 20 feet apart. The space between the containers not only frame views and help control light entering the interior
serves as the home’s double-height living area and is built with but also provide a powerful exterior design feature.
conventional materials and techniques. Parts of the walls of the The interior of the home is warm, open, and modern. Buffed
flanking containers have been cut away to provide an open flow to glowing, the one-and-a-half-inch Asian hardwood flooring
between container space and new construction space. On the that runs throughout the house is the standard-issue flooring

60 THE HUMBLE SHIPPING CONTAINER