Transforming Containers into Floating Dorms

Sailing through college: Company transforms shipping containers into cheap, eco-friendly, floating dorms 

• The first Urban Rigger opened this month in Copenhagen, Denmark
• Students will move in to the 12-room floating dormitory in October for $600 a month
• Structure is made of nine former shipping containers on a concrete pontoon 
• The rig is solar-powered by panels on the roof that connect to batteries below the water 

By Reuters Reporter, Dailymail.com Reporter,www.dailymail.co.uk

• View Original
• September 29th, 2016

It's a cheap and eco-friendly way to live in one of the most expensive cities in the world.

Urban Riggers, a company in Denmark, has developed student housing out of old shipping containers, transforming them into a floating college dorm on the Copenhagen harbor.

Architect Bjarke Ingels told Reuters there were many benefits to this type of accommodation. 

'These shipping containers have already traveled collectively around 50 times around the Earth and now they've arrived here and we've placed them together, not like the typical sort of serial line-up that you use for cargo but in this star shape, this hexagonal courtyard that becomes the communal space,' Ingels said. 

The new-age dorm: This student housing complex is called the Urban Rigger and is made of nine shipping containers, stacked in two levels on a concrete pontoon

Eco-friendly: The rig uses sustainable technologies such as solar panels and hydro source heating to provide energies

The rig uses sustainable technologies such as solar panels and hydro source heating to provide energies

Welcome home, students: The rent for one room will be roughly about $600 per month. Copenhagen is one of the most expensive cities in the world 

Ingels added: 'You have direct access to swimming in the clean harbor water of Copenhagen. 

'You have a shared roof terrace, you have a solar roof, you have a green roof and then you have, of course, these amazing, compact, student homes.'

The design and construction of the Urban Rigger was built around sustainability.

Underneath the concrete pontoon, beneath sea level, is a room holding the batteries that power the rig.

The batteries receive their power from solar panels on the roof. There are 12 modest rooms in the complex, with a common room and outdoor terrace.

The first students are set to move in at the end of October, and will each pay $600 a month rent. Drone footage uploaded online shows the extent of the ingenuity.    

Comfortable: Each modest room is set up like a small studio apartment, for just $600 a month 

The first unit complex - with 12 dorm rooms - opened to the public on September 21. The students move in next month 

A solar array on top of one of the containers (back) powers the homes, while there is an outdoor terrace on the roof 

Alexander Loudrup, who studies at University of Copenhagen, said the Urban Rigger is ideal student accommodation. 

'By living in one of these, you will be able to live a very healthy life because you're not living in the middle of the city, you're living by the water where the air is clean and also you'll be away from the distractions and sounds of the city so you'll be able to concentrate on your work,' he said.

Another, larger Urban Rigger structure is in development on the water in the Swedish city of Gothenburg. That complex will feature 24-interconnected rigs, with a total of 288 rooms. 

Ambitious: There are plans to open a much bigger Urban Rigger complex in Gothenburg, Sweden, with 24 connected rigs