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10 Best: Cool shipping-container conversions

Larry Bleiberg
Special for USA TODAY

Originally developed for transportation, shipping containers are finding new life as buildings. Stores, restaurants and offices are popping up across the country as architects find new uses for the steel boxes. “The shipping container could be the 21st century’s brick,” says Allison Arieff, a New York Times architecture and design blogger, and author of Prefab (Gibbs Smith, $39.95), one of the first consumer-oriented books on the subject. “It appears to be this endlessly possibility-laden building material.” She says while containers don’t make great houses, they have been used for many cool commercial purposes. She shares some standout examples with Larry Bleiberg for USA TODAY.

PROXY SF
San Francisco
What started as a temporary two-block, pop-up project five years ago in the Hayes Valley area of San Francisco has been such a hit that its lease has been extended until 2021. Crowds love spots like Ritual Café, Smitten ice cream, a beer garden and an outdoor cinema, screening independent films. “In many ways it has set the tempo for everyone else,” Arieff says. “They’ve become much beloved.” proxysf.net

Smoky Park Supper Club
Asheville, N.C.
What’s being touted as the country’s largest shipping container restaurant recently opened in this mountain city’s River Arts District. Like other container projects, the site reclaims a once-derelict industrial area. The restaurant uses 19 shipping containers with cut-out windows providing views of the French Broad River, and offers rafters easy takeout service. 828-350-0315; smokypark.com

Container Park
Las Vegas
Even in Las Vegas, which boasts Venetian canals, medieval castles and a New York skyline, this shopping area still attracts attention. The multi-story project was spearheaded by Zappos.com CEO Tony Hsieh, who is trying to attract a millennial workforce downtown. It includes galleries, bars and restaurants, along with a treehouse play area, all guarded by a giant praying mantis made from recycled metal. 702-359-9982; downtowncontainerpark.com

The Gulf
Orange Beach, Ala.
Perhaps it’s fitting that a state which played a role in the start of containerized shipping is now home to a fun beachside restaurant and bar made of the big boxes. The property offers several seafood options, from fried grouper sandwiches to sushi, which are delivered to sun-shaded picnic tables or cushy outdoor lounge areas that look right out on the Gulf of Mexico. 251-424-1800; thegulf.com

Box Office
Providence, R.I.
A abandoned warehouse site now regularly attracts sightseers eager to see how an architect recycled 32 shipping containers to construct a dozen offices and studios. The building has a solar array and consumes a fraction of the energy of a normal building complex. “There’s a playful sense about it,” Arieff says. boxoffice460.com

Copper + Kings Distillery
Louisville
The historic Butchertown neighborhood has gone all-out hip with this new distillery producing apple and grape brandies. The owners transformed six steel boxes into a boutique, café and visitors’ center. “I like that they’ve used the containers to sort of replicate an urban beer garden,” Arieff says. 502-561-0267; copperandkings.com

BoxPark
London
Shoreditch, an arty, gritty London neighborhood best known for street art, is attracting tourists with a collection of container buildings housing restaurants and independent retail shops and pop-ups. “It has been a great draw in an area where people wouldn’t normally go,” Arieff says. “It’s cool to experience.” A similar BoxPark has recently opened in Dubai. boxpark.co.uk

Starbucks
Northglenn, Colo.
Even coffee giant Starbucks has embraced the container trend, building modular stores from shipping containers like those used to transport its coffee and tea. This drive-through and walk-up building, covered in reclaimed Wyoming snow fencing, was assembled off-site and quickly installed near Denver. “They’ve made some effort to be architecturally distinctive, to feel more like an independent café,” Arieff says. starbucks.com

Re:Start Café
Christchurch, New Zealand
One of the beauties of container buildings is that they’re quick to construct, an attribute that was much appreciated when residents of Christchurch struggled to rebuild after a 2011 earthquake. This café, made from three containers, opened soon after the disaster and donated a percentage of its revenue to restoring a badly damaged theater. hummingbirdcoffee.com

Camp Emerald Bay
Catalina Island, Calif.
Summer camp once meant bunking in drafty tents or bunkers. But at this Pacific retreat on the north end of Catalina Island, a few campers get to set up temporary residence in a modified container. It was constructed on-site by Scouts from two 20-foot steel boxes. The Eco-Cabin’s topped with a translucent Fiberglas roof, adding a light and airy feeling to the once-dark boxes. campemeraldbay.org

Luxury Living Off the Grid... In a Shipping Container?

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