Design Trend |Shipping Containers

January 2016, By Nicole Langelier

Tragedy often leads to innovation, inspiration and invention – and that is exactly what happened in Christchurch New Zealand after the 2010 and 2011 earthquakes that destroyed a large portion of the city’s buildings – both contemporary and historic. As of about a year ago over 1240 of the quake damaged buildings had been demolished – and this does not take into account the buildings that came down on their own during the quakes.

I was intrigued when I first heard about Christchurch’s unique approach to the loss of so much of its city centre in the form of its Restart Container Mall, that was entirely made up of repurposed shipping containers. When I heard about the container mall on the news some years back I imagined it to be a bit of a shanty-town or street market , but upon a recent visit to NZ, I discovered it was quite the opposite. Not only is it really cool and dynamic, but a tightly run ship with international brands and retailers, coffee shops, banks – even a NZ post office – all operating out of brightly coloured single or double story shipping containers. It was super cool! I was quite surprised by how well organised and planned it was, and how this colourful pop up city flowered amidst what is still a very devastated city. It was full of contrast, promise and enthusiasm and I totally dug it. 

If you read my blog regularly then you will know that I love a bit of re-purposed design action. Re-purposed containers have been sprouting up across the world for some years now and I think they are simply brilliant. The first time I heard of a shipping container being re-purposed was back in 2006 – it was a great project spearheaded by Russian model Natalia Vodianova – she collaborated with American architect Adam Kalkin to design container based recreational centres for under privileged kids in Russia. 

Many architects (and now earth conscious hipsters) have jumped upon the container bandwagon. In 2008 when visiting my mother in Boston there was a pop up 3 story Puma shop in the heart of Fenway made up of three rows of stacked containers. It was the talk of the town and really held it’s own as a piece of contemporary architecture.

Even here in Melbourne you don’t have to go far to find a repurposed container-cum-something-else. The People’s Market was a traveling design and food market set up just down the block from me in Collingwood a few years back. All the stalls were set up in old containers, making it really similar to the Restart Mall in Christchurch.

This trend shows no sign of stopping and it’s great. Recently I had a meeting at a container café in Footscray called Rudimentary. It was made up of three 40 foot shipping containers side by side, but you would never have known it from inside. It was light filled and spacious and the food was great. Check it out!

Beyond offering an alternative up-cycled shelter and instant shopping hub in the centre of Christchurch, shipping containers were also used as structural support to the dilapidated historic buildings that had been badly damaged. Stacked one on top of the other acting as a barrier wall, these versatile metal vessels not only made up the footprint of what has become the bustling new hub of the city, but they are also doing their part in preserving what remains of the old.

I commend the clever cookies that come up with these simple but effective – and in the case of NZ, life-altering adaptations.

Check out these Remodelista and Pinterest links for a plethora of funky container adaptations – Puma, Peoples Market etc.