Container City II at Trinity Buoy Wharf in September 2012.
Container City is the name given to two pieces of shipping container architecture on the Leamouth Peninsula. It is principally a means of utilising standard forty-foot equivalent unit shipping containers, at the end of their life, to produce flexible accommodation and offices at low cost.
A number of buildings have been installed using this method, primarily in East London. The first (Container City I) was installed in 2001, in four days, and fitted out over five months, at Trinity Buoy Wharf, in the London Borough of Tower Hamlets. This was expanded with a second phase (Container City II) in 2002 and offices were constructed on the same site in the Riverside Building in 2005.
A similar technique was used in Container Learn, a 2001 project for Tower Hamlets College, providing twelve extra classrooms on a site with limited space and completed in the time between terms.
The name is a trademark of "Urban Space Management". The company have now completed sixteen projects utilising the technique, which is suited to short and medium term land use – when the land becomes required for other uses, the containers can be reused elsewhere.
Gallery
Illustration of the structure of Container City I and Container City II showing how the shipping containers (each nominally 40'×8'×8') are stacked.
Container City I
Interior of a studio in Container City I
Container City I and Container City II with an upturned container containing a stairwell between them
The second-floor walkway linking Container City I and Container City II
View of Container City II from that walkway
View of Container City II from the third-floor walkway linking Container City I and Container City II
Tower Bridge is a Grade I listed combined bascule, suspension, and, until 1960, cantilever bridge in London, built between 1886 and 1894, designed by Horace Jones and engineered by John Wolfe Barry with the help of Henry Marc Brunel. It crosses the River Thames close to the Tower of London and is one of five London bridges owned and maintained by the City Bridge Foundation, a charitable trust founded in 1282.
One Canada Square is a skyscraper in Canary Wharf, London. It is the third tallest building in the United Kingdom at 770 feet (235 m) above ground level, and contains 50 storeys. It achieved the title of the tallest building in the UK upon completion in 1991 and held the title for 21 years until the completion of The Shard (310m) in 2012.
Tower 42, commonly known as the NatWest Tower, is a 183-metre-tall (600 ft) skyscraper in the City of London. It is the sixth-tallest tower in the City of London and the 19th-tallest in London overall. Its original name was the National Westminster Tower, having been built to house NatWest's international headquarters. Seen from above, the shape of the tower resembles that of the NatWest logo.
8 Canada Square is a 45 floor skyscraper in Canary Wharf, London. The building is the global headquarters of HSBC Holdings.
The Oxo Tower is a building with a prominent tower on the south bank of the River Thames in London. The building has mixed use as Oxo Tower Wharf containing a set of design, arts and crafts shops on the ground and first floors with two galleries, Bargehouse and gallery@oxo. The Oxo Tower Restaurant, Bar and Brasserie is on the eighth floor, which is the roof-top level with fine and casual dining. In addition to this, situated on the eighth floor is a viewing gallery open to the public. The third to seventh floors contain 78 flats owned by Redwood Housing. Much of the second floor can be hired out for events and weddings.
Leamouth is a locality in the Blackwall area of Poplar, in the London Borough of Tower Hamlets. The area takes its name from the former Leamouth Wharf and lies on the west side of the confluence of the Bow Creek stretch of the Lea, at its confluence with the River Thames.
Trinity Buoy Wharf is the site of a lighthouse, by the confluence of the River Thames and Bow Creek on the Leamouth Peninsula, Poplar. It lies within the London Borough of Tower Hamlets. The lighthouse no longer functions, but is the home of various art projects such as Longplayer. It is sometimes known as Bow Creek Lighthouse.
HM Fort Roughs is one of several World War II installations that were designed by Guy Maunsell and known collectively as His Majesty's Forts or as Maunsell Sea Forts; the purpose of which was to guard the port of Harwich, Essex, and more broadly, the Thames estuary. This 4,500 ton artificial naval installation is similar in some respects to "fixed" offshore oil platforms. It is situated on Rough Sands, a sandbar located approximately 11 kilometres (6 nmi) from the coast of Suffolk and 13 kilometres (7 nmi) from the coast of Essex. Today it is the location and de-facto capital of the unrecognised, self-proclaimed state of Sealand.
The Lower Lea Valley is the southern end of the Lea Valley which surrounds the River Lea in eastern Greater London. It is part of the Thames Gateway redevelopment area and was the location of the 2012 Summer Olympics.
Wood Wharf is a 23 acre site in Canary Wharf, London. It is currently under construction to provide offices, residential homes and retail space. The site is next to Canary Wharf. Wood Wharf will contain 5 million square feet of space, which will include 2 million sq ft of office space, 3,330 residential homes, 3.6 hectares of public spaces, and 380,000 sq ft of shops, restaurants and space for community use. It is estimated to be completed in 2023.
Butler's Wharf is an English historic building at Shad Thames on the south bank of the River Thames, just east of London's Tower Bridge, now housing luxury flats and restaurants. Lying between Shad Thames and the Thames Path, it overlooks both the bridge and St Katharine Docks on the north side of the river. Butler's Wharf is also used as a term for the surrounding area. It is a Grade II listed building.
The Sydney Town Hall is a late 19th-century heritage-listed town hall building in the city of Sydney, the capital city of New South Wales, Australia, housing the chambers of the Lord Mayor of Sydney, council offices, and venues for meetings and functions. It is located at 483 George Street, in the Sydney central business district opposite the Queen Victoria Building and alongside St Andrew's Cathedral. Sited above the Town Hall station and between the city shopping and entertainment precincts, the steps of the Town Hall are a popular meeting place.
Shipping container architecture is a form of architecture that uses steel intermodal containers as the main structural element. It is also referred to as cargotecture or arkitainer, portmanteau words formed from "cargo" and "architecture". This form of architecture is often associated with the tiny-house movement as well as the sustainable living movement.
City Tower is a 30-storey office skyscraper situated in the Piccadilly Gardens area of Manchester city centre in England. As of 2024, it is the second-tallest office building in Manchester after the CIS Tower, the third-tallest outside London after CIS Tower and 103 Colmore Row in Birmingham, and the joint 21st-tallest building in Greater Manchester with Embankment Exchange, with a roof height of 107 m (351 ft).
20 Fenchurch Street is a commercial skyscraper in London that takes its name from its address on Fenchurch Street, in the historic City of London financial district. It has been nicknamed "The Walkie-Talkie" because of its distinctive shape, said to resemble a walkie-talkie handset. Construction was completed in spring 2014, and the three-floor "sky garden" was opened in January 2015. The 38-storey building is 160 m (525 ft) tall. Since July 2017, the building has been owned by Lee Kum Kee Groups.
St George Wharf Tower, also known as the Vauxhall Tower, is a residential skyscraper in Vauxhall, London, and part of the St George Wharf development. At 181 metres (594 ft) tall with 50 storeys, it is the 20th-tallest building in London and was the tallest residential building in the United Kingdom on its completion.
Thames Wharf Studios, in Hammersmith, London, was originally an industrial site containing the Duckham's oil facility overlooking the River Thames in Hammersmith. It was acquired by the Richard Rogers Partnership in 1983, which converted the industrial complex of redundant 20th century warehouses into offices, workshops, housing and a restaurant.
Landmark Pinnacle is a 233-metre (764 ft) skyscraper constructed by developer Chalegrove Properties in Marsh Wall on the Isle of Dogs, London, United Kingdom. The 75-storeys Landmark Pinnacle is a short distance west from the financial center of Canary Wharf. It is the tallest residential tower in the United Kingdom, the tallest residential building in western Europe and has more habitable floors than any other building in western Europe. As of 2023, Landmark Pinnacle is the fourth-tallest building in the United Kingdom. The development was formerly known as City Pride, the same name as the public house it replaced, before a name change in 2016.
South Quay Plaza is a residential-led development under construction on the Isle of Dogs, London, England, within the borough of Tower Hamlets. It is being developed by Berkeley Group Holdings and was designed by architect Foster + Partners. The site of the development lies to the immediate north of Marsh Wall and to the immediate south of the financial district Canary Wharf. The entire development is scheduled for completion in 2028.
One Kemble Street and Civil Aviation Authority House, originally known jointly as Space House, is an architecturally notable building off Kingsway in the London Borough of Camden. It is a grade II listed building with Historic England. Like nearby Centre Point, it was built for the developer Harry Hyams as part of the 1960s commercial property boom and kept empty for several years after completion.
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