The following guest blog post was submitted by Sophie Andersen:
Starting a restaurant is financially challenging these days, with all the fees and expenses you have to cover. Therefore, it is not surprising that more and more people are turning to second-hand shopping containers in order to save some money. These can also look quite neat and here are some examples that prove it.
In the Middle of Nowhere
A couple of years ago, Subway opted for the most unusual spot for their restaurant – literally between the sky and the ground! This place was, however, not open to public, but made in order to provide food for the builders of the One World Trade Center. Due to that, its distance from the ground rose with every new floor, combining a great idea with a positive cause.
Food and Flowers Equals Enjoyment
Some restaurant owners take their surroundings into account when preparing for opening and the results are often exceptional. One of these, Stable Café, is located in San Francisco and owned by a floral designer. It is full of flowers and basically presents the nicest possible mixture of a florist and a restaurant. With so many different kinds of plants, the environment of the open-air area keeps changing all through the year, so guests never get bored with the same old decorations.
Keeping it Authentic
If you are a seafood lover and happen to be in China, you have to visit this restaurant complex in Tianjin. It is made out of re-purposed containers, but they were not – like in other restaurants – redecorated and made more beautiful and inviting. On the contrary, you can still see their codes and destinations, but that does not lower the level of enjoyment. Moreover, the menu contains all kinds of seafood and the whole experience is lovely.
A Wolf Pack of Containers
A single container-restaurant is often labelled as a cute and appealing project of an enthusiastic individual. When there are, on the other hand, more of them attached to each other, there is something else going on.
This is happening in Toronto right now with several container-based kiosks being open in Harbourfront Centre, owned by the same company and housed in containers from Royal Wolf Australia. These joints offer a wide range of options, from burgers to lobster rolls, and are an upgrade from the general image of fast food restaurants.
Container-Made Coffee
Old shipping containers are not used for food-serving purposes only, but as cafés as well. There is one in Austria’s town of Linz that serves coffee and other beverages, including – since we are talking about Austria – the finest beer you can think of. Its roof automatically transforms into a side wall and is actually a proof that quite a lot of construction and architecture skills have to go into these projects.
Cargotechture In Our Own Backyard
If you thought that using shipping containers is something that only happens in strange lands, far, far away, then you are very much mistaken. We are seeing first steps being made here in St. Louis as well. For instance, famous architect Anthony Duncan has designed a combo three-story building that will found its home at Forest Park Southeast and that will be built reusing shipping containers. There is also news that a building permit application was filed for a shipping container café on Cherokee Street. It is quite possible that this is only the start.
The Future
It can be safely predicted that more and more restaurant owners will look into shipping containers as a reliable, durable and sustainable option for their venues. They are cheaper, inviting and intriguing – so everybody wins!
Sophie is an architect based in Sydney.
She is interested in sustainability and green living. Sophie loves to write and share home ideas and tips around the web. She’s also editor-in-chief at smoothdecorator.com.
Connect with her at G+.
The views, opinions and positions expressed within these guest posts are those of the author alone and do not necessarily represent those of the Green Dining Alliance or St. Louis Earth Day. The accuracy, completeness and validity of any statements made within this article are not guaranteed. We accept no liability for any errors, omissions or representations. The copyright of this content belongs to the author and any liability with regards to infringement of intellectual property rights remains with them.
If you are interested in submitting a guest blog post, please contact jen@stlouisearthday.org with your article idea.
