Perfectly contained

A container home. You can have one made to your specifications. PHOTO | LABAN WALLOGA

What you need to know:

  • As as he looked around his yard, he saw two unused containers, and an idea struck him. He remodelled the two 20-foot containers at a cost of about Sh4 million, embedded the structure into his office and added some décor. That was three years ago.
  • Mr Athman Ali, the firm’s project manager says there are fewer approvals associated with container projects. “Besides, small business owners want business premises they can afford. These spaces are appropriate for small and micro enterprises,” he says.
  • He says their main selling points are pricing and mobility, adding that a container house is an investment rather than an expense because you can easily dispose of it, unlike a building.

With his transport business booming, Naeem Pasta needed more space, so he thought of building an office. one-story block. He asked a contractor for a quotation for a simple one-story block and the figure was a whopping Sh20 million. It didn’t make sense, so he decided to revamp his office instead.

As as he looked around his yard, he saw two unused containers, and an idea struck him. He remodelled the two 20-foot containers at a cost of about Sh4 million, embedded the structure into his office and added some décor. That was three years ago.

From the outside, his office looks like an ordinary container but the interior has the ambience of an office in an upmarket location.

ALTERNATIVE TO BRICK AND MORTAR

“People are shocked that I am operating a transport business with a fleet of 60 trucks from an office made from containers. But I tell them that I am not only working from an office that is just as nice as theirs, but my plot is also intact. There is nothing to prevent me from making use of it when the time comes,” he says, adding that the beauty of the technology is convenience.

Last year he went commercial with his idea and registered Container Technology Ltd, a company that converts shipping containers into offices, ablution blocks for institutions and homes. In November last year, his company participated in the housing expo at the Kenyatta

International Convention Centre where he showcased a prototype bedsitter made from a 20-foot container.

Although it is relatively cheaper than using building blocks, a house made from containers can be expensive, depending on the interior finishing.

Kenyans strongly believe in brick and mortar and have been reluctant to adopt other building technologies such as prefabricated houses and interlocking blocks, but with the hard economic times, they are being forced to adapt.

“When we started converting the containers, people were interested only in offices but currently, more than 80 per cent of our inquiries are for those who need houses,” he says. The units cost between Sh300,000 and Sh5 million, depending on a customer’s needs.

The technology came in handy recently when his family wanted to develop a 40×60 plot at King’orani, Mombasa. Building a small flat for their intended business would have cost Sh45 million.

“We were thinking of creating a business park made from containers and invested about Sh15 million. We converted six containers into 27 rental shops, with each fetching Sh13,000 per month,” Mr Pasta said at his office in Jomvu, Mombasa West.

Mr Athman Ali, the firm’s project manager says there are fewer approvals associated with container projects. “Besides, small business owners want business premises they can afford. These spaces are appropriate for small and micro enterprises,” he says.

When DN2 visited their workshop at Jomvu this week, the designers and artisans were rushing to beat a 21-day deadline to make a one-bedroom house for a client in Shimba Hills, Kwale County.

EXPANSION

“The client has a farm near the ocean and we have made the house with big windows that allow for a good view of the ocean and also allow the sea breeze. This unit is unique in that, if the client is not satisfied with the location, he can easily move it elsewhere,” Mr Pasta says, adding, “People are excited, with some clients ordering a six-bedroom unit. However, we have a huge task convincing Kenyans that they can live in a container.”

He says their main selling points are pricing and mobility, adding that a container house is an investment rather than an expense because you can easily dispose of it, unlike a building.

He is also holding talks with financial institutions to give mortgages to potential owners of container houses.

Encouraged by the response, Mr Pasta hopes to build an estate made from containers and also expand to Uganda, Tanzania and Rwanda

“Although there is a kind of stigma associated with alternative housing solutions, Kenyans are starting to appreciate that one can live in a container house,” he says.

The country has a deficit of 200,000 housing units per year, which developers have failed to meet despite efforts by the private sector to provide affordable housing.

The government, through the Kenya Building Research Centre, seeks to facilitate the development, production and use of indigenous building materials and technologies.

The centre undertakes and facilitates research, development and dissemination of information on building and construction materials and technologies. It brings private developers and other housing sector stakeholders together to jointly address the housing shortage.