A shipping container apartment built by Youssef and Kareem, founder of Qubix company, in Cairo of Egypt. (Xinhua photo)

CAIRO, July 21 (Xinhua) -- Necessity is always the mother of invention. Constructions in general and housing in specific were still a crisis in Egypt, especially due to price hikes in building materials.

Now,two young men were able to take a step towards the problem by setting up a small company Qubix, which is for transforming shipping containers into constructions: homes, shops, and restaurants, all at a lower cost and in a faster period of time than their usual, traditional buildings.

Having the challenge spirit, Youssef and Kareem launched their business about one year ago. They believe that container architecture can solve many problems in Egypt.

"The idea came to my co-founder's mind, Kareem, who saw its application in London in Container City while he was studying there at a university. He came back to Egypt after he had graduated and so had I in 2014. We had some things we wanted to implement as we always like to adopt different ideas. We got a twenty-foot container and put it in my house's garden. We launched our business forming a small group of some designers and workers, and we have been receiving orders since August 2016," Youssef Farag, co-founder of Qubix, said.

For the first sight, a lot of people thought that the recycled container would be just a metal box or a prison, but Farag said that it is like a usual building but made of different materials.

Farag referred that the containers are fitted with insulation to keep the temperature inside at about 25°C.

Youssef affirmed that the total cost of the caravan (the recycled container) is much lower than the traditional buildings. The new concept is also about no site construction needed as everything is prepared at a workshop then installed at the site.

"The cost (of the caravan) is 30% lower than the traditional buildings. The advantage isn't only confined to the cost advantage, but there is also no on-site construction needed on the client's part; for example, if a person want to build a house on a piece of land, the house will be built and finished here at the workshop as the owner will receive the construction ready for installation, so there are no need for equipment, machines, workers... at the site," Youssef said.

Building in Egypt depends upon traditional brick and cement which are expensive, especially since the country floated its currency in November 2016.

The government's step led to devaluing the pound by roughly half. Youssef and Kareem hope that their business can work on a solution for the country's housing crisis.

Egypt, whose population reached 92 million, is struggling to build enough houses for the poorest in society, with many Egyptians living in slums.

There are hundreds of slums deemed structurally unsafe in Egypt, especially in Cairo.