Living Container House

Living container houses are generally used as temporary accommodation solutions and were employed to house athletes at the Nagoya Asian Games due to budget overruns, though they faced issues such as limited space and inadequate facilities. Here's a detailed introduction:

Application of Container Houses as Temporary Accommodation

With their advantages of flexible adaptability and cost control, container houses have become a core solution for temporary office spaces, accommodation, and event support. In large-scale events or temporary projects requiring the rapid construction of numerous accommodation facilities, container houses can meet the demand. For example, they are used to provide temporary housing for workers at construction sites and as accommodation for staff or volunteers at outdoor music festivals.

Use of Container Houses at the Nagoya Asian Games

• Reasons for Use: Due to a significant budget overrun at the Nagoya Asian Games, which soared from the initially promised 85 billion yen to nearly 240 billion yen, with sponsorship revenue totaling only 50 billion yen and ticket sales falling far short of targets, the organizing committee abandoned the planned standardized athlete village. Instead, they adopted a three-tier solution of cruise ships + container houses + scattered hotels to accommodate athletes and officials.
• Capacity: The container temporary housing built at Nagoya Port was designed to accommodate approximately 2,000 athletes and officials.
• Issues:
  • Limited Space: The single beds were only 195 cm long, leaving basketball and volleyball players around two meters tall with their feet hanging off the end. The aisles in double-bed rooms were narrow, requiring occupants to maneuver carefully when two people were in the room. With a ceiling height of only 2.2 meters, tall athletes felt cramped.
  • Inadequate Facilities: Each container house had only one air conditioner. In humid September in Nagoya, closing the door quickly made the interior stuffy and unbearable. There was also a shortage of housing, with some officials, such as coaches, being arranged in different hotels or seeking accommodation through Airbnb.
  • Poor Quality: Some athletes reported leaks in the sinks and water pooling on the floors of their rooms. The sound insulation was extremely poor, necessitating the use of earplugs at night to sleep.