Posts by George Runkle
The Tallest Container Building in North America
Ida on McKinley is a multi-use development made from shipping containers on 3rd Street and McKinley Street in Phoenix, AZ. The architect is Local Studio, the structural engineer of record is Schneider Structural Engineers. Runkle Consulting, Inc worked under Schneider to design the shipping container part of the structure. The building is 7 stories high,…
Read MoreAffordable Shipping Container Apartment Complex in St. Pete, FL
This project is a 34 unit apartment affordable shipping container complex in St. Petersburg that is being constructed as affordable housing. Each unit is one 40′ container, and includes a bedroom, shower, kitchen, and living room area. The complex includes a laundry room and bike storage room. The Architect on this project was Carbon Design…
Read MoreShipping Container Apartments – New Haven, CT
This shipping container apartment complex was challenging because it was located in a coastal flood zone and a high wind area in New Haven, CT. It sets up above the ground about 10 feet. This added a bit of complexity for stability of the foundations and the walls supporting the building. The developer of this…
Read MoreFoundation Failure – The Nightmare of Your Dreamhouse on the Hill
In this video I talk about how that wonderful house on the hill can be your worst nightmare. That house that overlooks a nice wooded valley and has a wonderful walk out basement. However, can bring you a lot of problems in the future. To illustrate, I discuss a little bit of the geology concerned…
Read MoreLeveling Up and Stiffening a Sagging Floor
In this video, we are leveling up and stiffening a sagging floor. The floor sagged over time because the builder didn’t provide properly designed trusses. We stiffened the trusses and jacked up the floor to fix the problem, and this is how we did it. The contractor is David Moore with Structures, Inc. I found…
Read MorePressurized Waste Plumbing In A Container Building
Most of the time the waste lines in a container building work by gravity. Basically on the principle that water and…well other stuff go downhill. It presents a lot of challenges in shipping containers to keep all the waste pipes at a decent slope. In this earlier video I talk about the challenges. On this…
Read MoreI Really Hate Designing Plumbing in Container Buildings
In this video, I go over the issues with putting plumbing systems in a shipping container building. Of all the things I do in design, this is a task I absolutely hate. Doing a gravity sewage system can be especially tough becasue it’s difficut to route the pipe in a way that makes sense and…
Read MoreVacation Home in West Virginia Made From Repurposed Intermodal Containers
This is one of our latest designs. It’s an existing cabin that the owner is putting an addtion around it made from shipping containers. In this design, I’m not touching the existing structure for the most part. The only modification I am doing to the existing structure is adding a beam in the basement. The…
Read MoreHow US Building Codes Work
In college professors never explained how building codes work. Supervisors never explained Codes to me anyplace I worked. I’m going to save you trouble and layout how Building Codes work here in the US. This is of crucial importance to us as designers. This should help if you are working from another country, or just…
Read MoreArt2Park Intermodal Container and Steel Structure in Orlando, Florida
Introducing Art2Park: Transforming Orlando’s Parking Spaces with Art People know Orlando, FL, for its vibrant culture, iconic theme parks, and bustling urban life. But now, the city is about to get a creative makeover with Art2Park, an innovative project that transforms ordinary parking spaces into extraordinary works of art. Project Overview Art2Park is a community-driven…
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