Great Crates: 10 Beautiful Shipping Container Conversions

Shipping Container Art School in Korea

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Another ingenious structure by LOT-EK features eight shipping containers stacked and cut on a 45-degree angle with some of the side walls removed to create a larger space in a fishbone pattern. One container angles downward as an entrance and exit to the elevated space, and another juts upward as a lookout point. Two artist-in-residence studios as well as a large multipurpose rooms can be found within.

Antarctica Research Center

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Individual shipping containers were transported on a barge and then carried to the final assembly site via helicopter for a remote research station in Antarctica, coming together into an aerodynamic, self-sufficient whole. German firm Bof Arkitekten wrapped 134 containers in a metal skin for the 27,000-square-foot Bharati Antarctic Research Station, making them as easy to assemble and disassemble as possible due to restricted accessibility. In addition to the workspace on the bottom floor, there’s a second floor with 24 single and double rooms, a kitchen and dining room, library, fitness rooms, offices and a lounge. On the third level, a terrace offers space for scientific experiments.

Cross-Shaped Barneveld Noord Station

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Three shipping containers, one turned on its end, create a powerful emblem for the town of Barneveld Noord in the Netherlands. The temporary structure acts as a cafe, information desk and waiting area for travelers, bringing human interaction to a public transit stop that was previously uninhabited. NL Architects will repeat the framework at twenty railway stations throughout the nation.

Telescoping Container House

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Casa Oruga, or ‘Caterpillar House,’ stretches modular shipping containers down a hillside so that the ends are cantilevered, creating a telescoping effect that puts the focus on the beautiful landscape and allows air to flow freely throughout the house. Clad in rusted Corten steel, the containers rest upon a glass and concrete base, and voids between them create breezeway terraces. Architect Sebastián Irarrázaval Delpiano chose the materials for their low cost and low maintenance needs.

Cantilevered Shipping Container Office
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The structurally reinforced walls of shipping containers make them perfect for cantilevered structures, such as this office by Irish architect Patrick Bradley. Working with a company that specializes in custom container projects, Bradley created a tranquil, affordable office space on a narrow sliver of a site, a good half of the building jutting out over a steep cliff.