Two Architects Turn a Steel Shipping Container Into a 24-Sqm Birch Plywood Cabin

A 24-square-meter steel shipping container now functions as a fully self-contained home. Architects Evgeny Makarenko and Andris Shneps-Shneppe completed the conversion, called The Flacon Cargo Module: Rational Integration, in two and a half months of off-site prefabrication.

The module sits in the 'Derevnya' creative community near Moscow, an experimental rural settlement established by the Flacon Design Factory team. The compact footprint holds a double bedroom, a kitchen, a living area with a fireplace, and a full shower room. The exterior keeps the industrial corrugated steel profile of the original freight container. Makarenko served as both architect and structural engineer, and photographed the project.

How does the plywood shell work?

The interior is lined in an unbroken shell of hand-selected, second-grade (BB) birch plywood. The architects chose BB grade for its natural grain variations — the knots and figure that higher grades would cut out. A semi-matte lacquer finish protects the surface and reflects natural light entering through an expansive glazed end-wall.

Built-in furniture, work surfaces, and concealed storage integrate directly into the wall and ceiling planes. That leaves the central circulation path clear. Wall panels sit on a hidden mounting system with flush joints, eliminating exposed fasteners and hardware to reduce visual clutter. The kitchen module is built flush into the plywood perimeter wall.

What does this change for small-space living?

The unit is engineered as a self-contained, relocatable home that can be transported between sites. That's the practical pitch: a factory-built dwelling that arrives finished, connects to a landscape through its glazed end-wall and outdoor wooden terrace, and can move when its occupants do. Radiant floor heating handles climate control within the steel envelope.

The double bedroom occupies the rear section of the layout. The open-plan living area includes a compact fireplace and integrated seating. Large glazed openings connect the interior living zone with the surrounding rural landscape.

Project credits

The consultant team included Anton Brazhnikov, Alexander Makarenko, and Mikhail Arutsev, who also provided support. All images are credited to Evgeny Makarenko.

The project arrives through designboom's DIY submissions feature, where readers submit their own work for publication. Its demonstration — that a standard intermodal container can carry a warm, hardware-free plywood interior and a full domestic program in 24 square meters — gives the growing container-conversion segment a clear data point: two and a half months from start to finished, transportable dwelling.