With an increase use of shipping containers for housing and development seen around the world in recent years, including a 2022 World Cup stadium made out of 974 shipping containers in Qatar, Housing Development Cooperation (HDC) also joined the club by starting a shipping container park project earlier this year and announced 89% completed so far.
The park which is built from many reused containers is designed by HDC architects and is an in-house community park built with different colored containers with a low height of two floors. According to HDC the park is a space for community engagement and collaboration for residents and investors in Hulhumale. An exhibition space and a terrace equipped to hold art and craft exhibitions, reading spaces and gatherings by Foiygaadiya, a space for live events and to give information sessions for public, and space for small and medium enterprises to operate their businesses are all included in the container park. The park will be a peri-urban park, a space with meanings and a place for day today life.
Around 17 million shipping containers are believed to be around the world with only 6 million containers among them in use making approximately 11 million shipping containers as unused ones, taking enormous spaces in yards and ports. Shipping containers are also lost at sea from vessels causing damages and polluting the ocean. With new acts and regulations, projects to minimize the shipping waste and safe transport of containers, reusing shipping containers for housing and build ware has become an urban, eco-friendly and efficient solution for the issue.
The benefits of using shipping containers for housing include;
- Eco friendly, as it is re-usage of the containers which will otherwise go to dump or stay unused
- Affordable, shipping container modification is less expensive than traditional building customizations or renovations
- Portable, is designed to be portable, durable, and secure