Shipping containers are essential for transporting cargo around the world. However, few people are aware of the more creative uses for shipping containers. When inventiveness and necessity come together, they can be used in some amazingly unusual situations. This article will discuss a few such circumstances by overviewing the different ways to utilize shipping containers.
Theaters
As unlikely as it may seem, shipping containers have been used as impromptu, portable theaters. The containers are ideal for intimate productions for which only a small amount of space is required for staging, and they add a unique atmosphere to the show, regardless of the subject or storyline.
Homes
In some parts of the world, shipping containers are used as houses. They aren’t necessarily as cramped as many people imagine them to be, and their flat roof structure makes them ideal surfaces for solar panels, allowing owners to cut down on their utility costs. It’s definitely unusual, but it’s one of the different ways to utilize shipping containers.
School
This is another use specific to certain parts of the world where constructing a regular school can be too expensive. Shipping containers can be put side by side or in any other configuration where there’s a need for separate classrooms.
Emergency Hospitals
Using shipping crates for triage and other medical services has become a staple of the pandemic, when hospitals have been in danger of being overrun. They’re ideal for both testing and vaccination, and they can be placed in shopping centers and parking lots to provide easy access. They’re easy to sanitize and clean, which is another important advantage in medical situations.
Restaurants
Imagining your favorite bistro as a shipping container may be tough, but it’s been done successfully in several cities, including New York and Montreal. As long as the owner follows tips on building an interactive event container, the idea can pan out. Business leaders just have to embrace the outdoors, and people will be lining up to get in.
Stores
This is another one that’s tough to visualize, but shipping containers can actually be made into funky retail spaces when store space is tight or expensive. They can even be placed side by side to increase the available square footage.
Entrepreneurs were forced to think outside the box when the pandemic started, but employers in the industries listed above have smoothly transitioned to the changing circumstances of the world.