Shipping containers become houses in Tampa facility

TAMPA (FOX 13) - In a Tampa warehouse, just north of the airport, a different kind of pre-fabricated home is under construction.

Sundog Structures turns shipping containers into places to live and work.

"This is about a one thousand square foot house that is going in the city of Tampa. It's going to have a second story where the car drives underneath," says Sundog CEO Robert Cox as we tour the warehouse.

These are certainly not tiny houses. They are currently working on a 5,000-square-foot house in Tampa. Company designers look at home-building in a whole new way.

"Look at this like a LEGO approach of putting together buildings that have the strongest materials,” says Cox.

The company has grown rapidly in its three-year existence and currently has 34 projects on the books. Cox says the structures are energy efficiency, sustainable, and hurricane tough.

"When Maria came through San Juan, only containers were left standing in a lot of the areas where almost all the houses and buildings had been totally destroyed," Sundog President Wesley Osborne pointed out. 

Osborne went on to say public interest has been high.

"It gets a visceral response from a lot of people they get really excited about container design," he explained.

As far as costs, the prices for container homes can vary. The cost per square foot ends up being similar to that of a traditional home build. 

If you're interested in finding out more, visit www.sundogstructures.com.