Office building built from shipping containers

The City of Providence, Rhode Island celebrated its newest development project; a creative green office building on Harris Avenue on the west side of Providence that will be one of the City’s most distinctive contemporary structures.

This innovative commercial building – The Box Office – will be constructed from 32 recycled steel shipping containers painted in bright hues. The developer is Brown and Peter Gill Case, principal of Truth Box, a Providence-based design/development firm, which specializes in sustainable building practices. The 3-story building will contain 12 units of office and studio spaces, of which thirty-seven percent are pre-leased. The building’s design, environmental philosophy and inexpensive small units are attracting innovative small businesses, artists, and young start-ups working in Providence’s growing creative economy. Completion of the project is anticipated in March 2010.

There are thousands of empty shipping containers piling up in ports because of our nation’s ongoing trade deficit,” stated Case. “Containers offer a timely opportunity to promote green building principals and offer high quality design in an economy that demands affordable options. I have been inspired by the innovation of other container projects such as ‘Container City’ in London, ‘Keetowen Tempo Housing’ in Amsterdam and ‘Puma City’ (which recently had a ‘stop over’ at the Fan Pier in Boston).”

The Box Office is the first in a series of three highly-visible small-scale green buildings planned for Providence in the next five years, said Case.