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Print at Dec 17, 2025, 12:56:33 PM

Posted by MsVen at Jun 7, 2013, 12:11:56 AM

40ft HICUBE Container Concept House Project
G'day Everyone!

Firstly I just want to say thanks to Emmanuel for creating this wonderful software. rose

I've been using it for 2 years now as a hobby "architect" and have enjoyed it very much.

The project I'd like to share with you today, is my 40ft HICUBE Shipping Container House.

Outside at Dusk <<- Full Resolution Image

- Virtual Tour (Youtube) -

FULL DESCRIPTION
A concept design for a 40 foot HiCube Shipping Container House, designed and rendered in Sweet Home 3D 4.0. This is an awesome program for playing around with rearranging the furniture of your home, or for pro and wanna-be architects (like myself) who need an outlet for those house designs bouncing around in their head. This is like advanced Sims 3D house design, without needing to use cheats to avoid the crappy game play. dancing

This design is pretty spacious, sleeping only two, however I also intend to attach another container to the side of this one, for family and guests.

- 40ft HICUBE Container Concept House Floor Plan -
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Rendering Details
Video Format: 1920x1080 @ Quality 2.
I'm not having terribly satisfying results using the two best settings (Q3 & Q4), especially for the time spent rendering. Blending of lights at 2nd best (Q3) is dotty, while best (Q4) leaves little black and white artifacts randomly thru the images and video. This is due to some bug in rendering reflective glints on shiny surfaces, and can also be influenced by lighting strength and/or position, and time of day. Anyway, I decided Q2 is nice enough to show off the house design.

Still Images
Image Format: 1600x900 at Q4(Best).
~ http://i30.photobucket.com/albums/c302/BitchV...fromEntrance.png~original
~ http://i30.photobucket.com/albums/c302/BitchV...se-Kitchette.png~original
~ http://i30.photobucket.com/albums/c302/BitchV...mintoensuite.png~original
~ http://i30.photobucket.com/albums/c302/BitchV...etoBedroom01.png~original
~ http://i30.photobucket.com/albums/c302/BitchV...ouse-Ensuite.png~original

- Album Slideshow -
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Technical Specs of Interest
i7-3610QM CPU @ 2.30GHz (8 core processor)
8Gig RAM
NVIDIA GeForce GT 650M Graphics Card
64bit Operating System
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Further Discussion
I originally tried rendering with the 32bit version of SH3D, but it was very slow. After getting advice from the website, I upgraded to the 64 bit java version of Sweet Home 3D & used the memory command for 4GB. This definately reduced rendering time, and also stopped hangs on the higher settings, but it did not improve the dotty light blends of Q3, nor did it get rid of the black and white artifacts of Q4 - these results occur both when I render still images or video. From my understanding, the Sunflow rendering engine is used for the two top quality rendering settings, and this is out of the SH3D programmer's hands. I expect the Sunflow engine will also improve over time. Regardless of these niggly bugs of the final renders, the Sweet Home 3D experience is a lot of fun and well worth a try for all those budding architects and interior designers. :)
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More Resources
~ http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Intermodal_container
~ http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Shipping_container_architecture

Reanimated Housing by Reanimated Residue
~ http://www.reanimatedresidue.com
~ http://www.facebook.com/ReanimatedResidue
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Container Housing Projects

Posted by hansmex at Jun 7, 2013, 2:39:06 AM

Re: 40ft HICUBE Container Concept House Project
Ven,

Very nice.
Your project reminded me that I made a container house also, a few years ago. I updated it a bit to make better pictures.

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Hans

new website - under constuction
hansdirkse.info

Posted by MsVen at Jun 7, 2013, 3:03:42 AM

Re: 40ft HICUBE Container Concept House Project
Thank you for taking the time to check it out, hansmex. smile

Much appreciated.

I am interested in emergency and compact housing design, particularly recycled shipping container architecture, even though we are a large family of 8 people. wink

Of course, gigantic buildings can be created using multiple shipping containers, but I love the idea of being able to put one's home on the back of a truck or boat and taking it anywhere!
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Container Housing Projects

Posted by MsVen at Jun 7, 2013, 3:13:47 AM

Re: 40ft HICUBE Container Concept House Project
I would also like to see your shipping container house when you've created a couple of renders, Hans. Please be sure to share it here when you're done.
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Container Housing Projects

Posted by hansmex at Jun 7, 2013, 8:42:01 AM

Re: 40ft HICUBE Container Concept House Project
I attached three pictures to my previous message, but they don't show....
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Hans

new website - under constuction
hansdirkse.info

Posted by Puybaret at Jun 7, 2013, 9:56:43 AM

Re: 40ft HICUBE Container Concept House Project

I attached three pictures to my previous message, but they don't show....

I fixed it for you. Be sure to choose the Direct Link URL in the Embed tab after selecting the Share menu of mediafire.com contextual menu.
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Emmanuel Puybaret, Sweet Home 3D creator

Posted by hansmex at Jun 7, 2013, 12:19:50 PM

Re: 40ft HICUBE Container Concept House Project
Thank you, Emmanuel
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Hans

new website - under constuction
hansdirkse.info

Posted by Puybaret at Jun 7, 2013, 11:43:17 PM

Re: 40ft HICUBE Container Concept House Project
MsVen, your login was lost because of a crash in the forum database tonight. Please, register again if you want to write new messages. Sorry for the problem.
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Emmanuel Puybaret, Sweet Home 3D creator

Posted by mdi at Jun 8, 2013, 9:19:51 AM

Re: 40ft HICUBE Container Concept House Project
Hi MsVen, nice job!
If I may give a suggestion, I think your idea could become a real actual project by considering space for wardrobes or other forniture which are not optional in a house, like some space for dishes. They depend on number of people but your modular concept is really promising.
Very interesting idea!

Posted by MsVen at Jun 10, 2013, 10:47:22 AM

Re: 40ft HICUBE Container Concept House Project
@Emmanuel: No problem! I understand these things happen. smile

@Hans: Thanks for updating and sharing your container house. Very nice! cool

The spacious design allows a lot of natural light to get in, which I discovered is very important in these type of homes. Compact housing is quite a challenge. Making tight spaces livable, is not as easy as it first seems. The other day a friend challenged me to design a container house which allows for handicap access .... now that's gonna take some innovative ideas! wink

When you mentioned you updated this file from your archive of designs, I felt inspired once more to finish off a few missing details on one of my first shipping container projects from May 2011 - a 40ft HiCube + 2x8ft modular design that sleeps 10 (!!) and folds up into the 40ft container for transport. I've begun presenting images from that project in my next post.

@mdi: Thank you for taking a look at my container house! Yes, storage is very important in small spaces - I shall put more consideration into it. smile

This particular design is a bit of a "splurge" - a mini-mansion if you will. I started out with the intention of connecting a 2nd 40ft HiCube container, and possibly a 20ft container as well. The kitchen you see here is actually a Bar. I opted to make it into a kitchette, with a service hatch to the outside (or into the 2nd container), when I decided to make the unit a self-contained home in it's own right.

The 2nd container will have a full kitchen, laundry & BBQ space, another lounge area, and perhaps the 2nd bathroom, which will otherwise be in the 20ft container with a guest bedroom. I dunno ... still shuffling rooms around in my head ATM. wink

My husband and I have wanted to build a container home for many years. Hopefully, one day our dream will come true. good luck

40ft HICUBE Container Concept House Project (Update)
Part One - Complete!

I have rendered up a Quality 3 video @ 720x480, of the single bedroom container home in the Original Post. This render took a hefty 24 hours and I'm just too impatient to spend any longer than that. tongue

- Virtual Tour (Q3) -

As you can see, Q3 creates an undesirable dotty effect on light blends which sort of "sparkles" in video playback. I've turned the lights down low (10-20% at most), but it doesnt seem to make much difference. Turning lights off completely and using a "light source" can help, but not always. Quality 4 has a similar issue, but nowhere near as severe, however it is possibly related to the "Q4 artifact bug." I think the "Halogen light source" (and light objects with a similar light tone) have more of an issue than the "Incandescent light source" - but I need to conduct more testing to be certain about that (more discussion about light sources in my next post).

I don't mean to go on about these render bugs - I'm just hoping the information and extensive examples will help the developers improve the Sunflow engine, and that my tests may also help other designers get a pleasing result in SH3D. The render bugs are quite unfortunate as the overall render quality is rather impressive - beautiful reflections on metals and mirrors, brilliant glass transparencies, nice smooth blending of shadows on matts ...

Anyway, here are the final Quality 4 still images (1600x900) of the remaining viewpoints to be shown. This is one of my favourite renders of the series ... look at those gorgeous surfaces! It's almost photo-realistic! cool

~ Bar/Kitchette ~ <<-- Full Resolution Image

If you zoom in on the full resolution image, you can still see a few black and white artifacts dotted around the lights and some reflective surfaces (the "Q4 artifact bug"). When the entire project is finshed, I will ultimately choose the best images for a presentation portfolio and edit out the blemishes with Photoshop.

See More ...
Image Format: 1600x900 at Q4 (Best)
~ http://i30.photobucket.com/albums/c302/BitchV...mfromensuite.png~original
~ http://i30.photobucket.com/albums/c302/BitchV...teintoLounge.png~original
~ http://i30.photobucket.com/albums/c302/BitchV...ouseLounge02.png~original
~ http://i30.photobucket.com/albums/c302/BitchV...HouseFoyer02.png~original
~ http://i30.photobucket.com/albums/c302/BitchV...HouseFoyer01.png~original

Of course time of day, viewing angle, reflections and shininess of surface, all play a role in artifact severity. In some images however, I noticed it was the object itself. Let's take a closer look at that bug in my next post.

Reanimated Housing by Reanimated Residue
~ http://www.reanimatedresidue.com
~ http://www.facebook.com/ReanimatedResidue
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Container Housing Projects

Posted by MsVen at Jun 10, 2013, 4:37:14 PM

Re: 40ft HICUBE Container Concept House Project
40ft HiCube + 2x8ft Shipping Container Modular Concept House

Thanks for unintentionally inspiring me to finish off this old project, Hans! biggrin

In my last post I mentioned spacious design - this is not one of those, lol. Nonetheless, with clever planning and innovative ideas, it is possible to create comfortable, compact, and functional living spaces for families, using standard Caravan/Campervan products and dimensions. And as I also mentioned earlier, allowing natural light is very important in alleviating feelings of claustrophobia in such houses.

When I first downloaded Sweet Home 3D two years ago, I had seen this nifty prototype folding container house while browsing Youtube. I cant find the video anymore, but essentially they had built a 20ft box on wheels that could fit inside a 20ft shipping container. The box could be rolled out in different directions to extend the living space. It was very clever. Following further research, I realised a standard 8ft or 20ft container (on wheels) would fit comfortably inside a 40ft HiCube shipping container.

So without further ado, here is my first design inspired by that innovative "expanding house" idea. As I mentioned in an earlier post, we have quite a large family. I thought it would be a challenge to try and fit us all in, with a guest bedroom thrown in for good measure! So this design sleeps 10, and has two bathrooms.

~ Outside Front ~ <<-- Full Resolution Image

~ Outside Aerial ~

Unfortunately I cannot show a floorplan for this design as I was just learning how to use the software at the time, and there are many errors which make the model difficult to pull apart. I may try a fly over without the roof when I put together the virtual tour video.

In this modular house, the 8ft containers are kept in place with clips on the false floor and roof, and where the containers join each other. Note the kitchen container doors are used to create the "front door" and an interior wall. Triple bunks fold out from the wall and the bottom bunks can be used as sofas. For transport, the bunks are folded up, the 8ft container doors are closed, and the kitchen and guest bedroom are rolled into the 40 footer along tracks or on wheels. Other furniture in these two "bedrooms" is also on wheels and can be stored between, or inside, the two 8ft containers. The false floor is folded up and the roof (container door) is closed. Here are some spiffy pics of the inside ...

Full Resolution Image Format: 1920x1080 @ Q4(Best).

~ Entrance ~

~ Kitchen ~

~ Guest Bedroom ~

~ Front Bedroom ~

~ Middle Bedroom ~

~ Master Bedroom 01 ~

~ Master Bedroom 02 ~

~ Laundry/BBQ ~

The renders were going so well that I thought I might actually get away without any artifacts this time - but then I tried to render the Ensuite to the Master Bedroom ... sad

~ Ensuite 01 (failz) ~

Note also the mirror like reflection at the bottom of the shower glass ... looks like the engine got confused. If it werent for the fact that I had successfully rendered the shower glass previously in different areas and houses, I had thought the problem may have been caused by errors within the model itself. And rendering at a larger resolution doesn't fix either issue ...

~ Ensuite 02 failz (BIG TEST) ~ (Note: Full image download - 3840x2160)

I don't know what it is - maybe an error in processing shadow blends on transparencies in crowded areas - but it can get quite bad sometimes. And as you will see, it cannot be an object embedded in the wall ....

~ Ensuite 03 failz ~

This is when I started to think that the "Incandescent Light Source" was producing better results than the "Halogen Light Source." I'd got bored of bathroom renders by then, so I decided to do some different angles of the Middle Bedroom and go back to the Ensuite later, when the problem began occurring under incandescent lighting as well.

~ Middle Bedroom 01 fails ~

This glass door produced a curious error ... and though it appears related to production of shadow, time of day did not make a difference (though granted, sunlight doesnt hit this side, no matter the time of day.)

~ Middle Bedroom 02 failz ~

~ Middle Bedroom 03 failz ~

I'll upload a Virtual Tour of this project some time over the next few days. Thanks for taking a look!

Reanimated Housing by Reanimated Residue
~ http://www.reanimatedresidue.com
~ http://www.facebook.com/ReanimatedResidue
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Container Housing Projects

Posted by darkmath24 at Sep 13, 2014, 8:52:51 PM

Re: 40ft HICUBE Container Concept House Project
Hi!

I'm a neophyte regarding Sweet Home 3D, but i've recently became aware of the possibility of container home. Your design is particulary interesting because if share, would allow user who are neither professionnal designer nor yet home owner to test design. I couldn't see any way of downloading your schematics. Would you allow it? In any cases, many thanks for your work, it's great looking.

Sincerely,
Mathieu

Posted by MsVen at Apr 3, 2015, 8:05:12 PM

Re: 40ft HICUBE Container Concept House Project
G'day Again!

After 18+ months I've finally managed to upload the flyover and virtual tour of my 40ft + 2x8ft modular Shipping Container concept house (above) that I designed in Sweet Home 3D.

Video Format: 1920x1080 @ Quality 2.
40ft HICUBE + 2x8ft Shipping Container Home Flyover + Virtual Tour

At the time of creating these designs, I had also started playing around with Lumion. This is the best Lumion render of my Sweet Home 3D designed container house.

Lumion Render - Full Resolution

Hi!

I'm a neophyte regarding Sweet Home 3D, but i've recently became aware of the possibility of container home. Your design is particulary interesting because if share, would allow user who are neither professionnal designer nor yet home owner to test design. I couldn't see any way of downloading your schematics. Would you allow it? In any cases, many thanks for your work, it's great looking.

Sincerely,
Mathieu

Apologies for the delay in my reply. Thanks for checking out my container home designs. I think I mentioned earlier that I'm a 'wanna-be architect', so I'm not sure what type of schematics you were interested in - a more detailed floor-plan? or if you were wanting the .sh3D work-file (which would probably be more helpful)? And for which container home? I'd love to see any container home projects you get involved with.

Both of these shipping container homes are designed to be off-grid portables and therefore incorporate extensive water storage under the main bedroom. I would design much differently for a container house connected to mains water.

Water Storage Plan - Full resolution
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Container Housing Projects

Posted by Desslok at Apr 4, 2015, 9:28:37 AM

Re: 40ft HICUBE Container Concept House Project
Excellent work. Have you considered doing your work in Sweethome3d but then exporting to object format and then bringing the project into Blender to do full raytraced animations? I've dabbled in that with my Enterprise project and gotten very good results.
I was also able to animate the doors opening and closing and lights blinking on and off.

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