We have all seen a boat in the harbor piled high with containers either delivering or taking consignments of goods from one port to another. Those boats, piled high with containers are very impressive to see. But those containers that have been designed for transporting all sorts of goods are increasingly being used for alternative purposes to that for which they were originally designed. In fact, the old-fashioned container is suddenly finding itself more and more frequently featured in the pages of design and architecture magazines. Here are some places where it is being used that you might not have considered.
Let’s start with the obvious
Containers are designed for storage purposes. They are heavy but movable and they are easy to secure. It’s why they work so well on boats. But they don’t just need to be used as storage capsules on ships they can be used to store goods on construction sites or in industrial yards. Delivered as easily on the back of a truck as they are on a boat, they make for great storage facilities; and with a surplus of containers available in storage yards around the world you will find that by typing a simple phrase like ‘shipping container sales Australia’ into a search engine will yield plenty of options where to get one.
Housing
We all know how much it costs to build a house – and how long it takes. But containers are actually a starting to prove a cheap and effective alternative. Easy to modify by adding doors and windows, they do not require hectic foundations and can be delivered and lived in almost immediately. A bit of insulation to prevent it from getting too hot in the middle of the day and suddenly you have a fantastic two bed-roomed holiday house.
Swimming Pools
Instead of opting for a fiber-glass mold for a pool many people are now turning to the old-fashioned container as a solution. It is really a very easy process and it works phenomenally well. Dig a hole. Pop a container into it. Remove the rood of the container and coat it to avoid rusting and decay. Fill it with water and you have a very modern looking, industrial feel, swimming pool, that is deep and wide and eco-friendly.
Pop-Up Shops
The pop-up shop is becoming an increasingly popular phenomenon and the container is proving a very popular structure from which to host these shops. In short, a pop-up shop is a shop that exists for a short period of time. It might be a seasonal thing or it might be at an event or at a site that is expecting retail traffic for a brief period. But again, a slightly modified container can be the perfect business solution for these temporary needs. Kitted out and equipped prior to being delivered, the container can hold all the merchandise and shop-fittings while at the same time it is secure and lockable meaning there are no worries about leaving it unprotected at night. When it is time to move along the container can be easily loaded onto a truck and taken away to the next location. Simple!
