The Many Architectural Applications of Shipping Containers vol.9

Today shipping container architecture is applied in housing, entertainment, education and recreation to name but a few. They are also used to build sports facilities. Here are some examples.

The Las Vegas design studio M-rad‘s design of the extreme sports park puts recycled containers into reuse and takes a full advantage of them. The 42-acre container complex built near the Las Vegas strip combines accommodation, commercialism and food production.

The sports park has versatile options for recreation. The shallow lake in the middle of the park and its beaches enable people to do surfing or engage in other physical activities. There are also motocross tracks and skate parks among many sports venues.

Visitors of the park can stay at luxurious container hotel towers that offer an 180 degree view on the park site. The container construction site consists of three container towers of which two belong to the hotel. The third one is a production facility for local organic food. Harvesting is done with the help of wind and solar energy that along with natural ventilation meet 80 percent of the parks energy production.

Another sports related instance of shipping container architecture is a container skate park in Afganistan. The mega shipping container skate park will be built by an international NGO Skateistan that uses skateboarding as a tool for youth outreach in both Afghanistan and Cambodia. The most recent skate park in Mazar-e-Sharif is an educational safe have for children.The 6000 square meter educational and sport complex was built out of repurposed shipping containers and other locally sourced materials to host 1,000 local children on a weekly basis.

It is yet unfold whether the skate park grows the future’s Tony Hawks or even enhances Afganistan’s economy but for the well-being and sophistication of local children the shipping container skate park is in a big role.

Shipping containers are a sustainable and durable building material whose use is growing more and more mainstream. What’s more, due to their incredibly high availability, they would otherwise become industrial waste. Therefore, in order to prevent environmental disorder, the use of recycled shipping containers in building, say, homes, hotels, offices, schools, hospitals or recreational facilities, is today’s eco-friendly architectural solution.

Shanghai Metal Corporation is specialized in shipping containers and prefabricated shipping container construction. We also ship our products internationally. Visit our websites for specific details or send us your questions via this form. Check also our social media sites for future updates.

    

Tuomas P. // SMC Editor

Pictures and original articles: Inhabitat, Skateistan, Inhabitat, JRN.com, M-rad

Continue to chapter 10.

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Prefab Construction Enables Skateboarding on Water!

The great thing about prefab architecture is that it can be built somewhere and placed elsewhere. Actually prefabricated construction can be placed anywhere, say, in space, underwater or on water. One cool instance of floating prefab is a skate ramp on Lake Tahoe.

This 7,000 lb was built in four days to promote Visit California’s Dream365 campaign. Over 300 man hours were needed to get the ramp on water. After finishing the project, the ramp was first tested by pro skateboarder Bob Burnquist.

The floating structure consists of an 8 ft (2.4 m) tall wooden bank ramp and a smaller 5 ft (1.5 m) secondary ramp. Both wooden ramps rest on top of a 36 ft (11 m) long floating platform, with the ramps stained with different colors for a creative effect and polished to optimize skating speed.

Floating skate ramps have also been built elsewhere. For example Finnish snowboarders Eero Aattala and Roope Tonteri realised the idea by installing a skate ramp on a lake in Finland. The ramp was also used for swimming and enjoying the Finnish Mid-Summer Festival.

Skateboarding and prefabricated construction seem to be a good match. This is also shown by a nonprofit company Skateistan that installed prefabricated shipping container skate parks in Afghanistan to enhance local physical education. You can read more about it from here.

We in Shanghai Metal Corporation have a wide experience in executing high-quality prefabricated building projects. If you are designing your own, please ask for our consultation by sending an inquiry. Please look at our website too see our former projects. Also follow us on LinkedIn, Twitter, Facebook and Instagram.

Tuomas P. // SMC Editor

Pictures and original articles: Visit California, Jerry Blohm, Bob Burnquist, Gizmodo, Red Bull