17 Innovative Uses of Shipping Containers
Check out these innovative uses of shipping containers! You can contact Transocean Equipment Management to learn more!
Shipping containers are used in the shipping industry to transport cargo, but these versatile and useful pieces of equipment can be recycled and used in many innovative ways later on. Check out these innovative ways to repurpose a shipping container.
1. Theaters and Bistros
You can reprocess shipping containers into open theatres and bistros, a trend that is growing in urban areas. Because theaters and bistros don’t always have the longevity that other recreational businesses do, they can utilize containers as their home base for a short time frame.
2. Schools
With overcrowding in our nation’s school systems, it becomes more and more important to find low-cost ways of adding classrooms and annexes. The cost of constructing traditional school buildings from the ground up is very costly, so by using renewable spaces like shipping containers for classrooms, districts can save a lot of money.
3. Homes
The use of cargo containers as tiny homes is a continuing trend as more and more new home buyers are finding traditional home purchases unrealistic. Building spacious, large and expensive homes is cost prohibitive for many, which is why solar-powered shipping container houses are gaining in popularity.
4. Workshops
When there is a lack of space within the main household for conducting work from home or hobbies, shipping containers make perfect alternative workplaces. They can be placed anywhere, such as the back yard, and provide complete privacy away from the main house.
5. Offices
Just like constructing school buildings to accommodate overflow is cost prohibitive, so too is it building offices from the ground up. Yet space constraints still plague several industries. Modifying shipping containers into convenient and spacious office buildings is the key.
6. Emergency Hospital
Think of this as an ambulance yet in a fixed place most of the time. Shipping containers can be made into field hospitals that can be placed in parking lots or at sites of natural disasters to accommodate patients that can’t fit inside the main building. A good example of this is how many hospitals used shipping containers as mobile COVID-19 treatment and testing sites.
7. Portable Toilets
Movable toilets are great for construction sites, real estate developments, and traveling entertainment venues such as concerts and fairs. They can be repurposed into sanitary and hygienic bathrooms for people to use on the go, says Marine Insight.
8. Studios and Art Galleries
Shipping containers can be converted into studio workshops that inspire creativity for all works of art. They can also be converted into mobile art galleries that showcase seasonal work by local and regional artists.
9. Saunas
Think about it: wouldn’t it be nice to have your own personal relaxation paradise in the backyard? A shipping container makes the perfect space for such a sweat-inducing oasis.
10. Disaster Shelters
When people are forced to leave their homes during times of unrest, or when their homes are damaged or destroyed by natural disasters, they need a safe place to congregate, sleep, eat and get medical attention. Shipping containers serve the purpose of temporary shelter house very well.
11. Vacation Homes
Much less expensive than renting a hotel room, vacation homes converted from shipping containers are a versatile, trendy idea that today’s travelers love. They can be located at the beach, in the mountains, or wherever tourists love to visit!
12. Discotheques and Bars
With such a high cost of traditional buildings to house discos, pubs and clubs, it’s easier and cheaper to appeal to the bar-hopping crowd with this clever adaptation of a shipping container.
13. Student Housing
In areas where lack of space is a big concern, reprocessed containers can function as an alternative to traditional dorms. Many colleges take advantage of these alternatives to meet high demand on campus.
14. Swimming Pools
You can make one small pool using one rectangular cargo container, or a large pool by using several in a row.
15. Camper
If you love to camp, reprocess your container into a high-comfort, fully-customizable camper.
16. Malls
Containers can be used as malls and outlets to accommodate retail overflow. They’re cheap to set up and operate, and can be moved as needs change.
17. Nurseries/Indoor Gardens
Containers make perfect indoor gardens and nurseries because they can be modified for climate control very easily.
We hope you enjoyed our list of shipping container alternatives!
Contact Transocean Equipment Management
To purchase a new or old shipping container in any size, please call us today at (910) 483-7828. We also offer a variety of modifications and add-ons that can further enhance your unit.
