I've always been skeptical of the value of shipping containers as a home building method. There's the industrial aesthetic, but there's plenty of other ways to achieve that like metal siding,
concrete, etc...
I've seen some where the container(s) have been so altered, as to wonder why even bother starting there in the first place.
On the other hand, I've seen some temporary/pop-up shops, like a beer garden, where the bar is housed inside and the whole thing folds shut to be secure for the night, and I imagine that it is easily relocated (since that's the original intent of the container...)
The only positive thing I can see about the idea is the possibility to pre-fabricate the house in sections, at a different site, and then move the sections and assemble at the building site. Maybe a good idea if the site is remote, and materials and labor would be costly to get out there? Or the ability to do the work inside a warehouse/factory (independent of weather), or in your current backyard during nights and weekends.
I agree, that 3 walls is "almost" a house, and maybe more direct to just skip the containers.
I've seen photos of some cold storage/root cellars constructed in berms using Con-Span arches (engineered pre-cast concrete, intended mostly for culverts/viaducts) that were pretty cool looking.
