South Africa's first container retail center (27 boxes) officially opened in June 2015!

The inspiration for the project comes from box Park in London,

which is developed by citiq property developers.

Before the design, citiq has absorbed a lot of valuable experience

 from excellent container building cases around the world,

 such as boxpark in London and container shopping center in Paris,

and established the concept of using container building.

The citiq team decided to create a new retail center, so 27 boxes was born.

The 27 boxes, located in Melville, South Africa,

consist of more than 80 used containers.

The retail center covers an area of 2600 square meters and has a lease term of 30 years.

Due to the limitation of land use right,

it means that the container building is the best construction method at present.

The retail center mainly manages restaurants, home furnishing stores,

decoration stores, bicycle shops and art galleries.

Each independent container will serve as an independent shop. In addition,

it provides about 150 parking spaces. In the view of Xiaobian,

it is not so much a retail center as a social public place that gathers culture and life.

There are 102 stores in the center, each covering an area of about 27 square meters.

Unlike the traditional retail center, the overall atmosphere of 27 boxes is relaxed and pleasant,

including a boutique garden and a children's playground.

Every store will have environmental protection measures,

such as the use of energy-saving lights and quota meters.

This is the first time in South Africa to use shipping containers to build such a unique large building.

In addition to the use of containers, but also with other concrete and brick,

as well as green lawn and other elements, give a bright feeling.

The project took two months to build, saving construction materials such as bricks and mortar,

and two-thirds of the construction time. So far, the container retail center

has also been recognized by the owners, with a turnover rate of more than 80%.

Pictures courtesy of  27 boxes container business center