Over the past few years, there have been two major news stories surrounding shipping containers.
The first is the rise in demand for containers for their explicit purpose of safely and securely taking goods of all shapes and sizes (so long as they are less than 8 feet across) around the world.
The other story is the rise of the shipping container as an affordable and increasingly fashionable way to create living and working spaces.
Whilst shipping container conversions have existed in one form or another since the development of the ISO standard, they have become increasingly popular and ambitious.
Shipping containers have been used to create homes, offices, restaurants, swimming pools, cinemas, classrooms and many other buildings besides.
Here are some of the reasons why shipping containers have gotten so popular as a building material.
They Are Easy To Move Around
Shipping containers are designed to specific dimensions and specifications, and because of this they can be easily stacked on top of each other and placed anywhere with the help of a crane.
This allows for not only efficient and effective use of space but also very creative architecture as well.
They Can Be Easily Modified
Whilst there are some rules that need to be followed such as not cutting into the load-bearing frame, adding windows, doors and gates to a shipping container is as simple as cutting them out of the corrugated iron.
This allows for shipping containers to be converted to nearly any type of purpose, from fashionable studios to porters offices and beyond.
They Are Exceptionally Strong
Shipping containers are designed to travel the world, often on container ships in stacks of nine or more on top of each other.
As a result, they are inherently robust and resilient, making them an optimal modular building material in a way that other lightweight building kits are not.
