Shopping Center Built in 60 Days with Shipping Containers

Shipping container structures can be built at breakneck speed.

As I showed in a previous article, the Paris’s Student Shipping Container Apartments were built in six months. Another example of student housing quick builds can be found in Diemen, Holland. A local college wanted to build additional accommodation for its students, so they decided to build a block of shipping container homes out of 250 containers. The shipping containers were modified in China and then shipped to Amsterdam. Around 5 shipping containers were stacked each day, and the whole structure was up in less than 12 weeks.

Near the city centre of Dongguan in the south of China, 88 containers were used to build a 3 storey market centre measuring over 3,000 sqm. From start to finish construction took only two months. This was made possible by the manufacturers pre-installing all external and interior furnishings. Original designs came from the manufacture. Including manufacturing and construction, the total cost was 1.4 million USD.

Luxury Prefab House Cost of a modular house made in China

And before you criticize this approach, or think costs and time frames are not reasonable in your country. Consider this luxury prefab house which was constructed and decorated in Australia, in a two week period by temporary Chinese migrant workers at a total cost of labor at $22,112 USD.