The Wolverine: How Four 20ft Containers Became a Coffs Harbour Home

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The Wolverine container home in Coffs Harbour built from four 20ft containers

The Wolverine is a family home in Coffs Harbour, NSW, built from four 20ft shipping containers plus a conventionally built garage. It shows what a 20ft container home can grow into: start with a container that’s 6m long and 2.4m wide, join a few together, and you have a full open-plan home. It was named after its owner (the Wolverine project photos show why).

The Wolverine container home in Coffs Harbour NSW built from four 20ft containers

The build at a glance

  • Location: Coffs Harbour, NSW
  • Containers: four 20ft containers, plus a conventionally built garage
  • Layout: open plan, with plenty of glass to take in the outdoor views
  • Factory time: the container units, kitchen included, were built in our South Lismore factory within three weeks
  • Install: a local building team put it together on site

Why four 20ft containers?

A single 20ft container is 6m x 2.4m, which is plenty for a granny flat or a studio but small for a family home. Placing several side by side and opening up the walls between them gives you wide, open living areas while keeping each module small enough to truck easily and crane into place. On the Wolverine, four 20ft modules make up the home and the garage was built conventionally on site.

Built in the factory, finished on site

The Wolverine’s container units, kitchen included, were built under cover in our factory at 39 Habib Drive, South Lismore and finished within three weeks. A local building team then installed them in Coffs Harbour. Doing most of the work in the factory means the weather doesn’t hold things up and less work is left for the site.

Container Build Group factory at South Lismore NSW where the Wolverine's container units were built

Smaller 20ft container homes

Not everyone needs four containers. A single 20ft container home works as a granny flat, studio or guest room, and these are the 20ft models we build now:

  • Granny Cabin 20ft: a self-contained 6m x 2.4m container granny flat with 29.16 m² total floor area including the balcony. Base model from $38,900 + GST.
  • Stingray Cabin 20ft: a 14.4 m² footprint that grows to about 40 m² once its drop-down decks are lowered. It travels on a single truck.
  • The Big Tiny House: two 20ft high-cube containers joined together, with a kitchen, laundry, bathroom and fold-down bed. It can run on or off grid.

The Big Tiny House, a prefab home made from two 20ft high-cube containers, with deck and stairs

For something in between, the Byron granny flat also uses four 20ft containers. It’s fully off grid for power, with solar and septic, and was installed within 10 days once on site.

Aerial view of the Byron granny flat built from four 20ft containers

Building in Coffs Harbour

The Wolverine is one of several CBG builds in Coffs Harbour, along with Crystal’s Palace, a family home on a sloping block. See container homes in Coffs Harbour, our guide to container granny flats in NSW, or the full granny flat range. To see how containers scale up, browse our luxury container homes.

Talk to us about a 20ft container home

Call 1300 965 359, email sales@containerbuildgroup.com.au, or visit our factory and showroom in South Lismore, Monday to Friday, 8:30am to 4pm, by appointment. See visiting our factory.