The shipping container is the most prominent feature of the transportation industry. In fact, it revolutionized the world. Modern container shipping celebrated its 50th anniversary in 2006. Almost from the first voyage, use of this method of transport for goods grew steadily and in just five decades, container ships would carry about 60% of the value of goods shipped via sea. in 1955, Malcom P. McLean, a trucking entrepreneur from North Carolina, USA, bought a steamship company with the idea of transporting entire truck trailers with their cargo still inside. He realized it would be much simpler and quicker to have one container that could be lifted from a vehicle directly on to a ship without first having to unload its contents.
Now days, the container industry is experiencing another wave of change. With a little amount of imagination and creativity, the average single function unused container can be transformed into a family home or a luxury beach house. For example, here is a beautiful beach house in New Zealand. It has used a container to provide the internal structure for the building. One of the containers major industrial strengths, its structural strength.
As the container was purpose built for transportation, it has resulted in projects being found in the most breathtaking locations. All due to the ease of which the building materials, the containers, can be transported. This snow fort in Quebec was constructed out of seven containers.
The main driving force behind this second lease of life for the containers is the sustainability movement and the development of the idea of “up-cycling”. The spirit of up-cycling is very much at the center of these developments. Projects such as these are still seen as experiments but one would suggest that this trend is starting to change. The idea of using underused space and materials and re-purposing them within urban communities is on the way up. This beach house, constructed on an army base in Sr Lanka, provides a perfect example. Originally used to transport weapons, it is now an ideal place to come and relax.
Due to the huge surplus of shipping containers that have flooded the market in recent years, it couldn’t be easier to get your hands on one, for cheap, today. The idea about ‘living in a box’ is slowly changing as people see the amazing potential homes that they could be building. It would appear that no terrains are off limits!
Shanghai Metal Corporation currently provides a variety of new shipping containers that can be custom tailored based on customer requests. We hope that this article will encourage all to explore their own ideas for shipping container use.
If you already have an idea, but need shipping containers check out our current offerings, click here
To view metal and construction products as well as SMC company information check out our website: click here
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Henry B.//SMC Editor
Shanghai Metal Corporation 