Architect Christian Salvati is converting 16 shipping containers into six modular apartment units in New Haven, Connecticut, mounted on nine-foot pilings which allows for parking underneath. According to what Salvati tells nhregister.com, this will be the largest apartment building in the U. S. constructed of Cor-Ten steel. While the use of shipping containers for housing is more common in Europe and the West Coast, he says, “We see architecture going in the direction possibly of Henry Ford in the mechanization of construction. Down the line, once we have developed our know-how, we think we should be able to save about 40 percent across the board in price and in time, while still maintaining the same level of quality.” Salvati’s initial container project was a two-family unit in New Haven—he lives in one of the apartments and rents out the other. As MHProNews has learned, shipping containers that arrive full from Asia are abandoned because it is cheaper to build new ones than to return empty ones.

(Photo credit: Mary E. O’Leary/New Haven Register–Modular apartment building made from shipping containers.)