Can You Believe What They Did With Shipping Containers?

Nov 22, 2017 • Mike Field

The shipping container: an incredible tool to revitalize neighborhoods and urban centers.

TURN A FORGOTTEN ALLEYWAY INTO A DESTINATION

Urban landscapes are filled with empty patches of land between two buildings, creating dead spaces in otherwise vibrant, walkable environments. Oftentimes, these oddly shaped plot’s small dimensions make the land financially prohibitive for vertical construction. Shipping containers offer an inexpensive option for putting this land into good use.

In San Francisco’s Mission District, architect Malcolm Davis renovated a 19th-century carriage house into a small business incubation space complete with offices, a commercial kitchen and a ground-floor café space. Davis also acquired a small adjoining lot as part of his property purchase and quickly turned this space into a welcoming third place, doubling as both an outdoor seating area for Stable Café and adding a shipping container that houses a retail location for Baylor Chapman’s Lila B Design studios. Lila B Design specializes in creating living arrangements made from succulents and the courtyard acts as a living garden where Chapman grows plants for her business. The result is a unique and welcoming urban environment on a street otherwise devoid of retail life.

Photo Credit: www.lilabdesign.com

In St Petersburg, Florida, the owners of The Avenue restaurant converted in an unused back patio area into an inviting outdoor bar and live music stage using two 20-foot shipping containers. Not only has this space become a destination for a growing class of young professionals in this once-sleepy town, but the new space has made a positive contribution to the proprietor’s bottom lines by effectively doubling the size of the restaurant’s seating capacity for a fraction of the price.

Photo Credit: M Field