Rethinking the lives that live has been a common need during this pandemic. And as families, schools, offices, churches, and other groups rethink how the need for social distancing will impact the future, it should come as no surprise that there are many people reexamining the space that will be needed. From the use of modular buildings to provide additional classroom space to the use of modified shipping containers to provide more office space on a construction site, the nation will likely see the utilization of many kinds of building materials.
Used as temporary options for storage or office space in the past, modified shipping containers provide an almost endless set of options to many groups, individuals, and entire industries.
What Kinds of New Space Options Will Your Family or Business Need in the Future?
As shipping crate restaurants and modified shipping containers are used for pop up retail locations continue to grow in some parts of the country, it is encouraging that many individuals and businesses are now seeing the need for alternate uses of space. And while these shipping containers may have first been used to only transport goods across the country, it is now increasingly common to see creative uses for these affordable units. Stacked together in interesting configurations, in fact, modified shipping containers have been combined to create entire shopping areas. And whether these customized shipping containers have offered a way to more affordably and quickly create a multi use retail space or to create a changeable piece of downtown artwork, it is important to note that the cost of these materials are often a fraction of what otherwise might have been spent.
In some areas of the country, the use of individual shipping containers have been a way for city planners to provide individual housing solutions to homeless individuals. Offering an affordable way to quickly provide shelter, these containers have been reconfigured and customized in a wide range of options.
Often referred to as design 4.0, shipping container stores stand to take between five and 12 weeks off a store’s potential opening timeline and help small business owners more quickly meet the needs of consumers in a time when large indoor retail spaces are more problematic. With the option of creating these pop up containers spaces, in fact, there are some people who are realizing the near immediate impact that this approach can provide.
And while many large box retailers may have spend millions of dollars and waited months and sometimes years for the completion of massive retail space in high rises and malls, the pop up container option has many current benefits. With a space that is only designed for a few shoppers at a time, it Is important to note that these spaces can more easily be transformed for the needs of different businesses. Just as easily as a space can be redesigned to sell the increasingly popular masks that so many Americans are buying, these spaces can also be transformed to serve as a sheltered place for small restaurants to introduce new menu items.
Consider some of these ideas about the many ways that these containers have been used in the past, as well as how they will be used in the future:
- Downtown Container Park in Las Vegas spans as many as 19,000 square feet with a mix of 30 shipping containers and 41 multifunctional modular cubes forming its perimeter.
- Fortunately, for each recycled shipping container, as much as 3,500 kilograms of steel is being reused.
- Currently, 17 million shipping containers circulation globally with the number of active shipping containers at more than five million. In total, these containers make an average of 200 million trips a year, according to Billie Box. In the future, however, more of these containers will be staying in place as they serve new functions.
American consumers and entrepreneurs are resilient. And while there are many people who have suffered great losses during the last few months, it is important to note that there are also people who are creating innovative solutions to get their workers back on the payroll and to make sure that the best new ideas are affordably and quickly brought to the public.
