13 Surprising & Innovative Ways To Use a Shipping Container

Written by Susan Nalevac | December 07, 2021

 It may be clichéd to say that a product offers endless possibilities, but when it comes to shipping containers, it’s just true. People around the world continue to find unique ways to use these cargo containers on land.

From an at-home cinema to a portable classroom alternative, here are 13 innovative ways to use a shipping container for your home, school, or business today:

1. Bike Garage
2. Art Gallery
3. Business Workshop
4. Hobby Zone
5. Play Space
6. Micro-Cinema
7. Swimming Pool
8. Classroom Annex
9. Portable Restroom
10. Full Bar
11. Aquaponics Unit
12. Woodworking Studio
13. Vacation Property

1. Bike Garage

 At 20–40 feet long and 8 feet wide, shipping containers make for surprisingly great bike garages. Whether you’re housing your motorcycle and repair tools or your family’s bike racks, shipping containers fit your gear easily for quick access and an easy ride-out.

Multiple options for lock installation also ensure that your bikes stay safe on property, whether at work or home.

2. Art Gallery

 Shipping containers might make for a small space, but lining a modified container’s walls with art pieces instantly creates a portable art gallery worth attending. The close-contact experience allows a handful of guests to enjoy the gallery without interruption.

Shipping containers are also easy to transport from one location to another, allowing artists to take their work on a studio tour across the city and beyond.

3. Business Workshop

 Today, many businesses engage their customers by offering workshops, but not every company has space in their floor plan to dedicate as a year-round classroom.

A shipping container behind the shop, connected to the store, or in the parking lot creates the space necessary for personalized learning experiences, fun conversations, and customer engagement that doesn’t interfere with the sales floor.

4. Hobby Zone

 Storage containers are an easy way to add a space away from the house for parents to engage in their hobbies without interrupting the family’s daily flow. It could be a place to catch the football game, a crafting-only zone, or even a tabletop game night room.

Whatever the case may be, shipping containers are ideal for going all-in on your favorite hobbies.

5. Play Space

 In the same way that shipping containers make for a great parent hobby space, they can also be an excellent treehouse alternative for the kids. A shipping container provides a space for playing, reading, and spending leisure time outside of the house.

Install windows and doors to keep the area accessible to parents, but this kids-only zone gives children somewhere they can be in charge and get creative with interior design and self-expression!

6. Micro-Cinema

 One unique way that homeowners and business owners alike have transformed their shipping containers involves turning them into mini cinemas. Added seating, wall padding, and an edge-to-edge screen make this compact space ideal for engrossing yourself in a film with friends.

Many of these micro-cinemas worldwide feature murals and artwork on the sides to celebrate classic movies and add to the theatrical ambience.

7. Swimming Pool

 Shipping container pools took over social media not long ago as a luxury option that was shockingly available to everyone, not just online influencers. Shipping containers of the correct grade are watertight, initially intended to keep water away from cargo.

However, with a bit of finishing and reinforcement, shipping containers are fantastic for keeping the water in, too. Trendy shipping container pools also include one or more windows that give swimmers an entertaining view of friends and family enjoying their swim.

8. Classroom Annex

Campuses across the country have turned to shipping containers as an alternative to the construction costs and challenges of expanding an existing structure. Shipping containers comfortably fit rows of desks or a handful of group tables, allowing schools to create private learning spaces with ease.

Modifications like windows, skylights, HVAC systems, and bathrooms all ensure that students are just as comfortable and able to learn in container classrooms as they are in traditional buildings.

9. Portable Restroom

 When a store needs to shut down its bathrooms for renovations, guests and employees alike dread the incoming trucks of plastic portable toilets. Modified shipping containers allow everyone to breathe a sigh of relief.

These more spacious, sturdier mobile bathroom alternatives can come with working sinks, lighting, proper ventilation, and—perhaps most valuable of all—multiple stalls.

10. Full Bar

 For fans of backyard barbecues and neighborhood block parties, a shipping container can serve as one incredible backyard addition: a walk-up bar. Hobby bartenders can set up plumbing, shelving, and easy-to-clean floors, as well as concession-style windows, to create a getaway bar behind the house.

As with previous entries, the ability to securely lock up shipping containers means that high-value products are safe in your backyard.

11. Aquaponics Unit

 No matter if you’re planning to grow your restaurant’s produce or advance your gardening hobby, shipping containers are ideal for aquaponics systems. Urban farmers across the world have used shipping containers to build a contained foundation for the lower half of their aquaponics systems and placed greenhouse structures on top.

 Keeping the fish and water systems safe in the lower half of the structure provides growers more control over both environments, and stairway modifications give farmers easy access to the thriving plants above.

12. Woodworking Studio

 Home garages can turn into a competition for space when one family member has a passion for an especially messy hobby like woodworking. Shipping containers make for a fantastic alternative.

With shelving installation options and modifications that make ventilation easy, woodworkers can securely move their tools, equipment, and projects out of the garage and into a dedicated workspace.

13. Vacation Property

 Multiple apps make it easy for vacationers to find private properties nestled in neighborhoods that lack the drama of a hotel stay.

Tiny homes modified to meet all needs, from plumbing to HVAC and more, are especially popular on vacation apps today. A homeowner looking to host a rentable vacation stay can offer a rentable shipping container home and cash in on the trend.

Conclusion

There are plenty of innovative ways to use a shipping container, whether as a tool for leisure, creativity, or work. Our team at Container Management is proud to offer quality new and used containers, as well as modification services to help you bring your vision to life.

Contact us today to learn more about our products and services and what you need to know before you buy steel shipping containers for your project.