Once a staple of ports and scrapyards, shipping containers have taken on new life as the must-have design element of the moment, their gritty, sturdy frames doubling as a neighborhood bar, a mailroom, an office conference area, even a backyard farm.
Transportable Shipping Container Bar, Berlin, Germany
Concept: DREINULL
Manufacture: Artdepartment Berlin
Location: Germany
Year: 2014
This transportable shipping container bar was manufactured by Artdepartment Berlin on the basis of the concept developed by the Berlin agency DREINULL. One 20 ft open side shipping container was used in this project. The 20 ft open side container has the same footprint as a standard 20 ft ISO shipping container and has full side access doors.
The Cedars Backyard, Dallas' First Shipping Container Bar
Location: Dallas, Texas
Year: 2016
The Cedars Social's new owners, Jeffrey Yarbrough and Chad Boyle, decided that Dallas needed a little something new, and apparently utilizing a shipping container as a "fully operational bar" was that something new. With help from Mod Pod Solutions (owned by Joe Duncan, who happens to also own Baker's Ribs BBQ), the Tiffany-blue recycled shipping container is the centerpiece of the colorful hangout. Throw in picnic tables and brightly-colored chairs and you've got a delightfully simple and welcoming outdoor bar.
More Shipping Container Buildings and Homes in Texas:
Small and Cozy Shipping Container Houses with Rooftop Deck, Waco, Texas
Shipping Container Bar, Austin, Texas
2 Bedrooms 40 ft Cozy Wood Interior Design Shipping Container Home, Dallas, Texas
PV14 Two-Story Shipping Container Home, Dallas, Texas
1x20 ft and 2x40 ft Shipping Container Home, Houston, Texas
Shipping Container House with Green Roof, San Antonio, Texas
Lago Vista 3 Bedroom Shipping Container Home, Texas
Shipping Container Outdoor Bar at Cinquecento Roman Trattoria in the South End, Boston, Massachusetts
Design and construction: Mini Warehousing Inc.
Location: Boston, Massachusetts
Year: 2015
Boston restaurant, Cinquecento, expanded its South End location by adding an outdoor patio bar. The patio bar is a 12-seat full-service outdoor bar, made completely of recycled shipping container. Sponsored by The Aquitaine Group, they created and built the patio in 32 days! Pretty Amazing! Seth Woods, a representative of The Aquitaine Group, said: “It’s our job as restaurateurs to create reasons for people to choose our restaurants. Everything from the food we put on the plate, to the spaces we create all have an emotional response and are all part of the dining experience. With every space we create we start with something that we would want in our neighborhoods. The addition of the Rosso Patio Bar at Cinquecento was created with the mindful intention of being part of this neighborhood and I think it gives people yet another reason to enjoy outdoor dining in the South End.”
The patio is an outdoor extension of Cinquecento, and will serve the same menu as the restaurant inside. Unlike the restaurant, seating is first-come, first-serve.
“It feels authentic. It’s rugged,” said Robert MacLeod, founder and chief executive at Neoscape Inc., a company that designs visuals for real estate developers.
Many of the customized containers that have cropped up around the city are made by Mini Warehousing Inc., a Mansfield company that estimates it has sold hundreds of refurbished and specialized storage containers over the past decade, with price tags that range from $20,000 to $90,000.
“Once people recognize it, it’s in the back of their mind. You can’t forget it,” said Mini Warehousing’s president, Brian Quick.
In recent years, Quick said, the normally mundane structures have picked up a “cool” factor. Clients no longer just want the standard box, they want containers to reflect their own style, Quick said.
“It’s their idea we want to bring from a napkin sketch to the site,” he said.
Chris Glionna, the manager at Cinquecento restaurant, had never seen the repurposed storage units before last winter, when a fellow employee sent him a picture of shipping container hot dog stands in New Jersey. Team members decided they wanted one, too.
A little more than a month after they ordered their big red container— one that had been customized by Mini Warehousing to serve as a bar — it arrived, ready for business.
A conventional outdoor bar, Glionna estimated, would probably have cost three times as much and never would have been ready in time for the summer season.
“We wanted to bring something interesting to the neighborhood,” he said. “We are always looking for a reason to draw people into this part of the city.”
Cinquecento is located at 508 Harrison Avenue, Boston, MA 02118. For more information, call 617-338-9500.
Prefab Shipping Container Bar, Alberta, Canada
Design and construction: Honomobo
Location: Fortress Mountain Ski Resort, Kananaskis, Alberta, Canada
Year: 2018
Canadian prefabricated home builder Honomobo has debuted the Honomobar, a portable bar made out of a recycled shipping container. Able to be sent anywhere across North America, the Honomobar is a pop-up structure that can bring hospitality to your backyard, the pool, by the lake—or anywhere else a drink may come in handy.
Measuring eight feet-by-12.5 feet, each prefab shipping container bar is a compact 100 square feet. A hydraulic arm opens the main window for business, revealing a red accent panel and a treated butcher block bar top that's ready for service. Guests gather under a three-foot, cedar wood overhang. After hours, a black aluminum roll shutter safely locks the container down.
The bar can be easily transported to its location, and easily moved to additional locations. The simplicity of the structure requires no foundation—only the connection to site services and desired electrical and plumbing.
Currently, a Honomobar is set up at Fortress Mountain in the Canadian Rockies, proving that no matter how seemingly inhospitable the setting, the bar can make itself at home. Soon, Honomobars will set their footprint in Seattle and San Francisco, broadening the reach of modular bar construction.
Priced at $19,764 with a four-t0-six week delivery time, Honomobar is pushing the opportunities of mobility, design, and construction for hospitality endeavors.
Fortress Mountain Ski Resort, Kananaskis, Alberta, Canada
| Address | P.O. Box 8173 Canmore, Alberta, CANADA T1W 2T9 |
| Phone | +1 403-808-5972 |
| Website | https://www.skifortress.com/ |
| thomas.heath@skifortress.com |
Belgian Moon Shipping Container Mobile Brewery, Toronto, Canada
“We are excited to pair some of the best food offerings from Toronto’s butchers, cheese and charcuterie shops, that have been curated to match perfectly with Belgian Moon,” said Michael Sullivan, Head of Food & Beverage at stackt.
Belgian Moon’s state-of-the-art brewery will allow the team to brew fresh, directly on-site. This means that small batches of popular variants available in the US, such as Mango Wheat, and new, seasonal recipes will be able to be produced.
“We’re eagerly awaiting the moment we can host the Toronto community for a freshly brewed pint from this first-of-its-kind shipping container brewery,” said Bill York, Commercial Director, Belgian Moon, Six Pints Specialty Brewing.
20' Open Top Shipping Container Converted to a Container Patio
| Construction |
| About The Container Guy |
2x6 treated lumber mounted to the wall using these strut mount brackets and strut channel painted black.
Construction
About The Container Guy
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Transportable Shipping Container Bar
