Converting Shipping Containers For Retail Use
Following our look at the proposed shipping container park in Las Vegas, this post takes a look at Shoreditch London. where a successful container mall has been operating for just under two years.
London has been a hot bed of container conversion activity in the past three years. Not only did we get the Viewtube facility in the Olympic park, which we helped create but in 2011 in Shoreditch the ‘Box Park’ arrived, billed as the worlds first shipping container mall. We take a look at the impact of the project in London.
Box Park has taken a slightly different route to other projects and delivered a retail experience focused on brands, delivered to the consumer in a flexible shopping environment.
The focus on brands is different to the Las Vegas project which is centred on showcasing innovative new local start ups.
What the Box Park offers is a different experience from the standard homogenised Malls that look identical regardless of their location.
The impact has been to provide brands a vehicle for promotional activity and experiential marketing events. This is reinforced by the ability of the mall to provide pop up shop locations on site.
Recent events include the Puma ‘Worn My Way’ campaign launch, the Mariachi Doritos performing live and Tic Tac setting up a design your own pack shop, all in March 2013.
Commercial shipping container conversion projects have the ability to create diverse and flexible spaces where the retail experience is not fixed. Adding a finite life span to the project also creates an impetus among consumers to make use of the facility.