This hexagonal floating student housing complex made of stacked reclaimed shipping containers is better than any dorm you could hope to live in. ‘Urban Rigger’ by Bjarke Ingels (BIG) creates a sustainable solution to the pressing need for additional accommodations for students in the city, providing 15 living spaces arranged around an internal courtyard. Completely carbon-neutral, the structures are solar-powered and make use of hydro source heating and low-energy pumps, and the first unit opened to the public on September 21st.

Each apartment is available to college students at $600 per month and includes a private bedroom, bathroom and kitchen. Occupants get access to the courtyard as well as a kayak landing, bathing platform, barbecue area and roof terrace. The pontoon basement features storage zones and fully automated laundry. It’s a pretty sweet deal for students, who get to gaze out of giant windows at the sunset every evening and enjoy a water-centric lifestyle that most adults only dream about.

Making use of the harbor ensures that students get to live close to the school, instead of far outside the city, where most affordable units are located. Eventually, BIG plans to create entire communities made up of multiple structures.

“There are few strategies that allow cities to expand,” the architects explain. “Yet, Copenhagen’s harbor remains an underutilized and underdeveloped area at the heart of the city. By introducing a building typology optimized for harbor cities we can introduce a housing solution that will keep students at the heart of the city.”

“Meanwhile, the standardized container system has been developed to allow goods to be transported by road, water or air, to anywhere in the world in a complex network of operators at a very low cots. By making use of the standard container system we are offered the framework of extremely flexible building typology.”

“By stacking 9 container units in a circle, we can create 15 studio residences which frame a centralized winter garden; this is used as a common meeting place for students. The housing is also buoyant, like a boat, so that can be replicated in other harbor cities where affordable housing is needed, but space is limited.”

Disused grain silos long considered an eyesore in Johannesburg, South Africa are now topped with four layers of reclaimed shipping containers and almost ready to house hundreds of eager students. Mill Junction is an innovative housing project by Citiq Property Developers offering secure, comfortable, reasonably priced housing that could help raise the number of students who actually earn a degree.

The 11-story grain silos make up the bulk of the complex, with many apartments contained within. Windows have been cut into the silos and a paint job will help unify them with the colorful containers stacked on top. Mill Junction will contain 375 individual apartments as well as libraries, lounges, computer rooms and study facilities.

The height of the complex will give students some of the best views in the city, especially those lucky enough to get the shipping container units with balcony space. About half of South African undergraduate students drop out of school, partially due to the high cost of living. This project offers energy-efficient, low-cost accommodation with details like motion-sensor lighting and common green space on the roof.

Construction was completed in January 2014 and students are expected to start moving in within weeks.

Shipping container architecture is one of the biggest (relatively) new things in building these days. With the low cost, environmentally friendliness, and availability of the materials, it’s no wonder that more and more architects are getting turned on to the possibilities of shipping containers. They’re perfect for more than just building houses; they are also the ideal material for low-cost communal and emergency housing. For dorms, urban apartments, jails and emergency shelters, shipping containers provide an ideal jumping-off point. We’ve already seen some of the most incredible single-family shipping container homes out there; now here’s a look at some of the best group housing solutions using steel shipping containers.  Click the thumbnails below for more images of and information on these amazing designs: