These Floating Shipping Containers Are The Affordable Student Housing Solution of The Future

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Finding a cheap place to live in the city is hard enough, even without the added strain of debts if you are a student. The architecture organisation named BIG has proposed a smart solution that will not only provide relief to the debt-saddled students in search of affordable accommodation but will also reduce their carbon footprint.

 

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Image Source: Urban Rigger/BIG

 

The Urban Rigger is built using upcycled shipping containers and occupies the prime waterfront property. The floating dorms drift in the urban harbours of Copenhagen. The Urban Rigger is the world’s first housing experiment of its kind. A single Urban Rigger units cost around $600 per month.

 

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Image Source: Urban Rigger/BIG

 

Bjarke Ingels, the architects who devised the designs for the Urban Rigger, are renowned for their out-of-the-box solutions. However, the idea of the Urban Rigger was put forth by Kim Loudrop, the founder of the eponymous startup.

 

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Image Source: Urban Rigger/BIG

 

Loudrop wanted to develop a groundbreaking, innovative floating housing system to utilise the thus far unused prime real estate: water! Loudrop was encouraged to spur the project owing to the pressing need of affordable accommodations in the city. He also realised that nearly 80 percent of the European cities were located in the congested cities, near water bodies. Thus, Urban Rigger seemed a very logical solution to the problem.

 

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Image Source: Urban Rigger/BIG

 

Copenhagen was the obvious choice for the site of the first Urban Rigger experiment as it is one of the costliest cities in the world. The startup has patented its design and hopes to go global quite soon! See more images of the Urban Rigger below:

 

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Image Source: Urban Rigger/BIG
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Image Source: Urban Rigger/BIG
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Image Source: Urban Rigger/BIG
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Image Source: Urban Rigger/BIG
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Image Source: Urban Rigger/BIG
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Image Source: Urban Rigger/BIG
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Image Source: Urban Rigger/BIG
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Image Source: Urban Rigger/BIG
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Image Source: Urban Rigger/BIG
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Image Source: Urban Rigger/BIG
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Image Source: Urban Rigger/BIG
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Image Source: Urban Rigger/BIG
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Image Source: Urban Rigger/BIG
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Image Source: Urban Rigger/BIG
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Image Source: Urban Rigger/BIG
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Image Source: Urban Rigger/BIG
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Image Source: Urban Rigger/BIG
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Image Source: Urban Rigger/BIG
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Image Source: Urban Rigger/BIG
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Image Source: Urban Rigger/BIG
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Image Source: Urban Rigger/BIG

The floating Urban Rigger units come at a fraction of the normal cost. The 680-square-meter modular design of the Urban Rigger devised by BIG consists of nine shipping containers stacked together in a circle, enclosing a winter garden and common area. Each modular container can accommodate twelve students, each having his/her own bathroom, bedroom, and kitchen along with access to the 160-square-meter to common kayak landing, bathing platform, courtyard, barbeque area and communal roof terrace.

See the detailed plans for the floating shipping container compound below:

 

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Image Source: Urban Rigger/BIG
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Image Source: Urban Rigger/BIG
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Image Source: Urban Rigger/BIG
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Image Source: Urban Rigger/BIG
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Image Source: Urban Rigger/BIG
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Image Source: Urban Rigger/BIG

 

The Urban Rigger is carbon neutral and employs solar energy and water-driven heat exchange system utilising the natural sea water as a heat source. Specialised aerogel developed by NASA is used for insulation while energy-saving pumps by Grundfos have been installed for wastewater, drinking water, and circulation. The shipping containers are made of Corten Steel, and the manufacturing cost of each is up to $800 per square foot. So would you live here? Let us know in the comments section

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