Lately, shipping containers have been trending in their popularity as designers convert them into housing units. MEKA Modular Buildings, a Toronto-based company founded in 2009, aims to create modular live and work spaces inspired by recycling them.

MEKA Modular Buildings complies with the following design criteria:

– Each unit needs to have the same dimensions as an ISO (International Organization for Standardization) shipping container so that it can effectively be transported via truck, ship, or rail.

– Each unit must allow maximum functionality and meet local building codes so that it can be permanently installed.

By following these design protocols, MEKA Modular Buildings is in the pursuit of offering a diverse range of products tailored to fit any location around the globe.

MEKA Modular Buildings understands that shipping containers have the distinct benefit of being sized for delivery. Inherently designed for transport, MEKA creates practical, well-insulated building envelopes with a patented framing system that is both durable and livable, while allowing for a range of design aesthetics.

One example of their product is located in Nova Scotia. Having two beds / two baths comprising 960 square feet on 2 levels, it’s clad with western red cedar and corrugated galvalum. Known as the model Thor 960, it cost around CDN$260,000 including delivery and assembly.

A smaller model, known as the ALP 320 was assembled in Brighton, a town in Northumberland County, Ontario. Priced at approximately $110,000, it’s an open plan studio with one full bath, having a total of 320 square feet.

MEKA offers a fashionable take on manufactured sustainable housing, achieving a modernist aesthetic.

What does the future hold for MEKA Modular Buildings? Jason Halter, the company’s Design Director, envisions both a high design market and those who find appeal in its utility. With the ability to deliver to remote destinations, this product could serve communities impacted by natural disasters, or locations where there is an immediate need for housing, like the crisis experienced by our First Nation communities.

Having structural integrity, flexible configurations and diverse capability, MEKA offers an immediate and sustainable solution for those requiring efficient live work structures.

To see more of their collections or learn about their products, visit MEKA Modular Buildings.

And, be sure to check out other contemporary pre-fabricated homes on canadianrealestatehousingandhome.ca:

Atira Women’s Resource Centre In Vancouver Uses Recycled Shipping Containers For Community Housing

Go Green = Go Small In The Northwest Territories

Photos courtesy of MEKA Modular Buildings.

Researched and Written by Crystal Yung, Architectural Studies, University of Waterloo