Out Of The Box

Part container, part bricks, cement and glass, this eco-conscious home in the Swartland gives its creative owner-builders endless joy.

- Petro Mostert

Axel Ryder and Richard Wood’s container home in Riebeek West in the Swartland is a dream come true. But it wasn’t without its fair share of blood, sweat and tears: a container home that fits into a steel frame like a puzzle, and has brickwork here and there to fill in the gaps, requires meticulous planning.

And that’s exactly how these two creative minds tackled their project – with plenty of research and attention to detail.

They began digging the foundations in November 2016 in the most tree-filled section of the large property, which already had two homes on it. Their first obstacle was that the entire project had to be financed with hard cash: “Banks don’t give you a loan if you build with containers,” cautions Axel.