How shipping containers are becoming an affordable alternative in the construction industry

These containers are creating beauty: houses, shops, stores and creating other contemporary spaces.

A four feet container costs Ksh.50,000 and can even earn one Ksh.600,000 annually despite it not being a permanent structure.

One can erect a container in prime locations, lease it for maybe Ksh.10,000 or Ksh.15,000 per month and make a lot of money out of it.

“There are people who want storage purposes. You have a farm, you just want to store your goods,” Stephen Karume, the director at Frontier Container Fabricators, said on Citizen TV's Land & Property Diary show.

Karume said that insulation depends on what one is storing. For example, components like cement and salt will not be affected by temperature.

It is different for farming as storing flowers, vegetables or even avocados requires particular refrigeration variations.

“So if you are taking avocados, we have a refrigerated container here. They will give you a freezer container. They are called reefers. It has a capacity of between negative 30 degrees to positive 30 degrees,” he said.

Located in Kamaki's Corner in Ruiru, Frontier Fabricators also does mosques, schools, houses with varying modifications based on a customer’s preference.

“We are doing 20-foot containers producing bed sitters and studios. Then you want to have a guest wing in your backyard. Some people want to do business with Airbnb or rentals within their compound. You can do 40 feet and get two bedrooms, one bedroom depending on your capacity,” he said.

They also build container shopping centres by using 10 50 by 100 containers. They can make 50 shops, each giving Ksh.10,000, a job that can take only three months.

This can convert to significant profits, as a structure that costs Ksh.30 million to Ksh.50 million to construct can build earnings of between Ksh. 350,000 to Ksh. 500,00.

Every container starts in its raw form, and once identified by a customer, it is customized in a dummy design to provide a visual layout of the structure.

They use a cement board to cover all the grooves if the customer does not want the container outlook

A 40-foot container, for example, can have a living room with a kitchen, a lounge, a dining space, bedrooms fully fitted with closets, and washrooms.

“In the kitchen, we can design it the way you want. If you want us to have an in-built fridge, an in-built cooker, an in-built microwave, all those we're able to have,” Karume said.