Modular home or container home: what really sets them apart

From a distance, a converted container and a modular home look alike: two volumes made elsewhere, carried by road, set down on the land. The difference lies in where they start. The shipping container was designed to stack goods on a ship. A modular home is designed, from the first line, for someone to live in.

A box designed for transport

A standard container is 2.44 m wide on the outside and about 2.35 m inside. It is 2.59 m high, or 2.90 m for the "high cube" version. Its lengths are fixed: about 6 m or 12 m. These dimensions are made for ships, cranes and trailers.

Once the walls are insulated and lined on both sides, the inside width often drops to just over 2 m. The result is a liveable corridor whose layout is dictated by the box.

Steel in the sun

Steel conducts heat very well, more than a thousand times better than cork. A steel wall in the summer sun heats up fast, and every metal part that crosses the insulation becomes a thermal bridge. So it takes a lot of insulation, ventilation and, often, air conditioning.

Metal also raises the issue of condensation, when warm, humid indoor air meets a cold wall at night, and of corrosion, especially near the sea. Finally, a container that has already sailed may carry marine paints and a floor treated against insects: you need to know its history before sleeping in it.

A module designed to be lived in

A modular home starts from use. Its dimensions are chosen for the body and for the road: wide enough for a real bedroom, high enough to breathe, within what a truck can carry. Openings are placed for the view and the light.

In our case, the structure is built in our workshop in Marrakech and insulated with expanded cork from the Maâmora forest, a natural, local material that protects from both heat and cold. The home is then set in a few days on reversible foundations, with no concrete.

In short

• Origin: the container comes from shipping; the module is designed for living.
• Dimensions: the container offers about 2.35 m of inside width before insulation; the module starts from the plan.
• Thermal comfort: steel needs a lot of insulation and air conditioning; cork insulates without metal thermal bridges.
• Lifespan: steel must be protected from corrosion; the module is designed, roof and materials included, to last.
• Landscape: the container keeps its box shape; the module is designed for the place.

Does the container have its place?

Yes. For a plant room, a workshop, storage or temporary use, it is genuinely useful. For a place where people sleep, or where guests stay in the height of summer, comfort quickly becomes the question. That is where designing a home makes the difference.

To see how our homes are built, the brochure presents the models, materials and lead times.