Shipping Containers Blog

Posts Tagged ‘Uxbridge’

The Travelodge hotel in Uxbridge opened for business on August 15th. It was put together in record time and cost only 75% of a traditional construction.

The difference? It was put together from purpose made modular shipping containers which were shipped over from Shenzen in China to England, and then fitted together in a framework to form the hotel.

Shipping Containers are ideal for conversion into living space and the fact that they are easily transportable means that they create the minimum of disturbance to the existing infrastructure. But do we have to have containers especially made and shipped over from China when there are tens of thousands of good quality used shipping containers already in England just waiting to be converted?

Modern methods of insulation, ventilation and finishes mean that many options are now available to make the most out of the existing cargo containers we have in Britain. Surely this something we could be capitalising on in preparation for the Olympics where we will need additional accommodation quickly and cheaply?

But why wait until then? What about the nurses, doctors, firemen, policemen and teachers who all need affordable accommodation that is close to where they work? Wouldn’t accommodation made from shipping containers provide an affordable solution?

Yesterday we talked about shipping containers being used to provide accommodation for the Olympics – and by this I mean housing for either the athletes or the influx of tourists that 2012 is bound to bring.

I have been asked just how shipping containers could provide an answer when they are effectively just boxes!?

The fact that the containers themselves are made for industrial use means that they are extremely strong structurally and are in building block size being typically 20ft or 40ft long, 8ft wide and 8ft 6inches high.

If you imagine them as rather like a child’s building set then you can start to see them either joined to one another to create a series of rooms or stacked on top of each other to create lofts and multi storied buildings.

Put these within a rigid framework like the Travelodge in Uxbridge and you have an extremely flexible system that, with the addition of electricity, plumbing and heating mean that all of our modern day needs can be catered for.

If the industrial look of shipping containers does not appeal, then they can be clad in a huge variety of materials ranging from wood to render to suit the location of the elements.  Add windows, doors and maybe even balconies and the shipping containers are totally transformed.

There are examples of completed projects throughout the world.  From Container City in London – right in the centre of London’s Docklands which might be of special interest to our Olympic organizers – to housing projects in Australia.

Given the speed with which they can be set up, the relatively low impact on the surrounding environment – not to mention the green credentials of re-using an industrial product, there is a lot going for shipping containers that have been converted for use as accommodation.

Now I don’t mean by this that I am going to talk to you about painting your second hand shipping container green so it blends into the countryside.   This blog is about how by buying a shipping container you can flex your environmentally friendly muscles and feel good about the fact that you have done your bit to help the planet (and got a really good product into the bargain!!).

1. If you decide to buy a second hand shipping container then, obviously, you are recycling an industrial product by giving it a new life.   Most people use their ex-shipping container as a means of storage.  With the addition of a lockbox and a hardened steel shackle padlock you have a storage container that is not only extremely secure but has a whole new useful purpose.
2. New/once used shipping containers also can be environmentally friendly.   When used as part of a construction project these containers can be erected in much less time (and therefore use much less energy) than traditional construction methods.  A recent well known example of this was the Travelodge in Uxbridge.  Costs were a third .  less than a traditional build, and construction took a matter of months.  All achieved by using purpose built containers which were put together in no time on site.
3. Shipping containers can be converted into affordable housing that is ideal for enabling nurses, teachers, students etc to live near to their place of work/study.   This  reduces the carbon footprint by abolishing the need to commute.
4. On the subject of accommodation, shipping container conversions slot easily into towns and cities without requiring much - if any - additional infrastructure.   They can be easily transported onto brown field sites and connected up with minimum disturbance to their surroundings.
5. The flat roof of a shipping container is ideal for housing solar panels or growing a “green roof”.   The use of ceramic thermal paint for insulation means that the containers themselves are often better insulation than traditional houses.
6. Shipping Containers are often used as receptacles for recycling.   Think of the containers where you put your old newspapers in car parks for example.  10ft containers are frequently used to recycle clothes, shoes and the like.
7. Charities re-use shipping containers to transport items such as medical equipment, classroom furniture, books and clothes (all of which are being recycled themselves) to Africa etc.  Afterwards the container is often used to provide the community with additional covered space.
8. At the end of a containers useful life it can be totally re-used by recycling the steel and wood and turning them into something else.

These days going green and doing your bit for the environment has never been so popular.   Often, however, it involves additional effort and compromise.   With a shipping container  not only are you going green by giving an essentially industrial product a new life but you will have a supremely adaptable and long lasting practical product helping you in your everyday life -  in whatever role you have chosen for it!!