Here's an out-of-the-box idea — living inside a box. A shipping container to be exact. gargantuan shipping containers that once carried cars and trucks, frozen meat or iron-ore overseas are now being upcycled to create living spaces that feel just as personal and cozy as a regular brick-and-mortar makaan. The wait for your under-construction apartment can run into years but these steel containers fitted with plumbing, electricity and insulation take just a few weeks to be transformed from boxes to bijou residences.

For years, container architecture in India remained confined to low-cost accommodation and mobile office spaces on construction sites. Lately, however, well-heeled Indians with a yen for international trends have started experimenting with it. Container homes are common in most big port cities of the world like Amsterdam, Tokyo, New York and Cape Town, and are now popping up across India too.

Interior designer Neeraj Khandelwal has created three such spaces for high net worth individuals (HNIs) in Gurgaon in the past four months. "These were additions to existing farmhouses in Chhatarpur. Since putting together a container space is faster and easier, clients chose it over the usual brick-mortar structures," says Khandelwal who runs a design firm in Gurgaon.

One of the projects involved creating a lounge unit, next to the main farmhouse. "The client wanted a space to unwind. With this brief, we did not install partitions in the container, so as to create a sense of openness. We fitted it with a jacuzzi, a bar and a glass ceiling. The walls are covered with photographs of Harley Davidson models as the client is into biking," explains Khandelwal, who is currently developing container-rooms for an upcoming resort near Gurgaon, and a cafe.