20ft Expandable Container House with Stone-Effect Cladding, Glazed Double Door and Bathroom Pod

A 20ft expandable container house finished in stone-effect cladding with an anthracite frame, a glazed double door at the front and a completed interior — grey wall panels, wood-look floor, white doors and a bathroom pod with shower, WC and basin. It ships folded to 2200 mm wide, opens to a 38.2 m² floor, and arrives with the electrics, the plumbing drops and the wet room already installed.

This is the version of the 20ft expandable that most private buyers actually want: no white box, no fit-out left to the client. The two closed elevations carry a stone-pattern panel in mixed brown and grey, the frame is dark, and the front is glazed with a double door flanked by fixed panels. The interior is finished to a level you can put furniture into the day it is levelled — which is the difference between a shell and a usable room.

Because it is an expandable unit, nothing is welded on site: the roof sections lift, the two side sections slide out, the floor panels drop into place, and the unit is weather-tight in hours. It can also be folded back down and moved, which matters if the plot is rented or the site is temporary.

The 20ft is the middle size in the range and the one that balances freight against floor area: half the width of a 40ft unit to transport, but a full 38.2 m² once open. Two units load into one 40HQ in the folded state, so a pair can be shipped for one container's freight.

The figures below are the standard configuration for this model. Cladding colour, the extent of glazing, window positions, the internal layout and the bathroom position are all made to order, and every order is confirmed against a drawing before production starts.

Weight is the standard configuration. A bathroom pod, internal partitions and fit-out change the figure, so the shipping weight on your order is issued with the drawing.

The cladding is a steel-faced composite panel with a stone-pattern finish in mixed brown, grey and cream. From a few metres it reads as a dry-stone or split-face wall; close up it reads as a patterned metal panel, which is what it is. We would rather describe it that way than call it stone.

What you gain over real stone is weight and speed. A stone-clad wall needs a carrier, an adhesive and a mason; this panel is the wall. It keeps the insulation value of the sandwich panel behind it, it can be cut and fitted with hand tools, and a damaged panel is replaced on its own rather than repaired on site. The colour is a print run, so if you need a specific stone tone for a planning condition, ask for a sample before you commit — that is the one thing about this finish we would not leave to a photo.

The front elevation is a glazed entrance rather than a wall with a window: a double door in the centre, a fixed glass panel either side, all in anthracite aluminium within the same dark frame that wraps the module. The result is a wide band of glass at eye level, a dark outline around it, and the stone-pattern panel above and to the sides.

Front elevation at the factory: glazed double door with fixed side panels in an anthracite frame.

Two details that matter in use. The threshold is set within the frame line rather than proud of it, so there is no step to trip over at the entrance. And the glazed screen is assembled and sealed at the factory, so site work is bolting, not glazing.

The walls are finished in light grey panels with a dark trim line at the ceiling and floor — the same trim colour as the frame outside, which keeps the inside and outside reading as one building. The ceiling is a flat panel with surface-mounted LED fittings. The floor is a wood-look PVC over the structural board, laid as a continuous surface with the joints aligned to the module breaks.

Interior: grey wall panels, wood-look PVC floor, surface-mounted LED lighting and white doors.

Doors are white with a fine ribbed face, and the bathroom door carries a glazed panel so the wet room gets borrowed light. There is a consumer unit on the wall, switch and socket drops are already in place, and the wiring is brought out to a connection point on the outside of the module — so the electrical work on site is a connection, not a first fix.

The bathroom is built as a pod inside the module: shower with a thermostatic mixer and rain head, close-coupled WC, vanity basin, an electric water heater on the wall, and marble-pattern wall panels with a moulded shower tray. It is a complete wet room, not a shell waiting for sanitaryware.

Bathroom pod: shower, WC, basin, electric water heater, marble-pattern wall panels.

Putting the pod in means the buyer does not have to find a plumber who understands a container wall, and it means the waterproofing is done under factory conditions. The trade-off is layout: the pod occupies a corner, so tell us at quotation stage where you want it and we will draw the room around it rather than after it.

The structure is a Q235 hot-dip galvanised steel frame in 2.5–3.0 mm material with 6 mm liner plates at the corner castings — the points that take the load when the unit is lifted, and again when it is stacked. External walls are 75 mm EPS sandwich panels, with rock wool available where a fire rating is required; internal partitions are 50 mm EPS.

The roof is 0.35 mm corrugated colour steel over 50 mm EPS with a 200-type ceiling panel below. The floor is 18 mm fireproof magnesite board with 2.0 mm PVC as standard, and 4.0 mm SPC as an upgrade. Windows are dark-framed sliding units; the front is the glazed screen described above.

1. The folded module arrives on a flatbed or in a container and is lifted off by forklift or crane onto piers, blocks or a prepared hardstanding.
2. The roof sections are raised and locked — this is what gives the unit its full width at the top.
3. Both side sections are pushed out on their tracks until the floor panels drop into place and the walls are vertical.
4. Joints are closed, corner trims fitted, and water and power connected. Two or three people, a few hours, no wet trades.

The folded unit is 2200 mm wide, which is what allows it to travel on a standard flatbed without a wide-load permit in most jurisdictions, and two to load side by side in a 40HQ.

Garden annexe or granny flat — the stone-effect finish sits better against a garden than a plain white box, and the bathroom means it is self-contained.
Holiday let or glamping unit — finished interior, wet room and a glazed front, ready for guests.
Site or estate office — glass entrance for visitors, hard-wearing floor, WC on board.
Staff accommodation — one room plus wet room, stackable for a second level where the ground is tight.
Sales suite or showroom — the stone front reads as a building rather than a temporary cabin.

Two 20ft units per 40HQ in the folded state. Each unit is wrapped and braced for the sea leg, with the glazed front protected separately because glass is the part that fails in transit if it is not restrained properly. We supply the packing list, the assembly drawing, the electrical diagram and the material certificates with the shipment, and we can run a video inspection of your unit before it is loaded.

If you are buying against a tender or a planning condition, send us the clause and we will mark it up line by line and state where our standard differs — before you place the order, not after the container lands.

Is the bathroom included?
Yes, the bathroom pod shown — shower, WC, basin and electric water heater — is part of this configuration. If you need a second wet room or a kitchen run instead, both are quoted from a drawing.

Is the stone wall real stone?
No. It is a steel-faced composite panel with a stone-pattern finish. It gives the look at a fraction of the weight and can be replaced panel by panel. Ask for a physical sample if the tone has to match something on site.

How many units fit in a 40HQ?
Two 20ft units in the folded state at 3.4 tons each in standard configuration. The 10ft version loads four to a container.

Does it need a concrete slab?
No. Piers, blocks or a prepared hardstanding are enough, levelled, with bearing under the corner castings. The foundation layout goes out with the order.

Can it be used in a cold climate?
Yes, with the wall specification changed to rock wool and the glazing upgraded. Tell us the location and the lowest expected temperature at quotation stage and we will specify to it.

Can two units be joined?
Yes. Units can be bolted side by side or end to end, with the wall panels between them removed at the factory, to make a larger room. The joint detail is drawn per order.

Can it be stacked?
The frame and corner castings take a second level, and we quote two-storey arrangements regularly. Stacking is checked against your wind and seismic load before we confirm it.

Can we inspect the factory or the unit?
Yes. You or a third-party inspector are welcome at the plant, at the stage you choose — frame, panelled shell, or finished and fitted out.