Shipping Container

Planning permission was recently granted for a new shipping container-based office building in London. It'll rise to a height of 26 m (85 ft), making it the world's tallest shipping container-based building once complete and will also boast some sustainable additions, including solar power.

We've covered a lot of shipping container-based architecture projects but this one, by New York City and Naples-based firm Lot-ek, is larger than most. Named Drivelines Studios, it's a residential project in South Africa that's made from a total of 140 recycled shipping containers.

This attractive shipping container-based tiny house sleeps up to two people and seems best suited as a weekend getaway or guest house rather than full-time home. Named True Studio, it can be outfitted with optional extras, including full off-grid functionality and smart home tech.

High-profile Japanese architect Kengo Kuma has turned his considerable talent to shipping container-based architecture for the first time to produce this new Starbucks. The project is located in Taiwan and will function as a drive-thru in a soon to be opened shopping mall.

Thailand's International Sustainable Developmental Studies Institute teaches American students about sustainability, so it makes sense that when it needed a new campus, it used shipping containers. Nothing went to waste, with off-cuts reused as doors, walls, and the like.

​A set of upcycled shipping containers have breathed new life into a derelict and underused space at Amsterdam Science Park, stacking together to form a new co-working space for budding entrepreneurs called Startup Village.

We've reported on all kinds of uses for shipping containers that don't involve actually shipping things, including houses, farms, and swimming pools. We can now add pop-up bar to that list, courtesy of Canadian firm Honomobo and its Honomobar.

MB Architecture harnessed its extensive experience with shipping container-based projects while designing a new media lab for Bard College in Annandale-on-Hudson, New York. Comprising four recycled containers, the prefabricated building was delivered in two parts and installed in just half a day.

Las Vegas-based Alternative Living Spaces has shared its newest shipping container dwelling with us. Named the City, the compact home can be outfitted to run on or off-the-grid and, like Escape's Vista C, can also optionally be installed onto a trailer for easy towing.

Shipping container-based architecture seems like a bad idea. They'e cramped, offer no insulation, and often require heavy modification. That said, limitation occasionally proves fertile ground for innovation, as evidenced by the imaginative shipping container projects that we're highlighting here.

Studio Edwards recently completed an interesting take on the shipping container house with this project in Wye River, Victoria. Dubbed House 28, the home is used as a weekend retreat and features a green roof and rainwater collection system.

Architects never seem to tire of experimenting with shipping containers and some of the many uses conceived for the metal boxes include houses, offices and swimming pools. We can now add water sports center to the list, courtesy of engineering firm Sweco.