At first glance, 118 Vallance Road in East London doesn’t seem like it would be anything more than just another office development. But at nine stories and 26 meters tall, the building will just barely surpass the Freitag Store in Zurich as the tallest shipping container building in the world.
The building will be fabricated off-site from reclaimed shipping containers. From the outside, the module of boxes will be in the form of a gridded facade. The raw containers will be treated with a unified cladding and softened with glazed balconies and planting. While raw container stacking works for smaller buildings, the height of 118 Vallance Road required a more “sophisticated” approach, according to Patalab. Along with the fact that almost the entire structure is recycled, photovoltaic cells will be incorporated on the roof to power the structure to help with sustainability.
See Also: World’s tallest modular building rises in Singapore
The project recently received planning permission from London Borough of Tower Hamlets. Patalab projects the building will cost about 30% less to build than traditional buildings to construct.
Related Stories
| Dec 23, 2013
First Look: KPF's dual-tower design for Ziraat Bank in Istanbul
Kohn Pedersen Fox Associates (KPF) is designing a new headquarters for Turkey’s largest and oldest financial institution, Ziraat Bank, in a modern, suburban district of Istanbul.
| Dec 20, 2013
Can energy hogs still be considered efficient buildings? Yes, say engineers at Buro Happold
A new tool from the engineering firm Buro Happold takes into account both energy and economic performance of buildings for a true measure of efficiency.
| Dec 16, 2013
Major renovation for historic Northwestern Building in Minneapolis
Minneapolis’s Northwestern Building, originally built in 1914 as a glass factory, is undergoing a major renovation. The 85,000-sf, four-story building is now serves as office space for multiple tenants in Minneapolis’ North Loop neighborhood.
| Dec 13, 2013
Safe and sound: 10 solutions for fire and life safety
From a dual fire-CO detector to an aspiration-sensing fire alarm, BD+C editors present a roundup of new fire and life safety products and technologies.
| Dec 10, 2013
16 great solutions for architects, engineers, and contractors
From a crowd-funded smart shovel to a why-didn’t-someone-do-this-sooner scheme for managing traffic in public restrooms, these ideas are noteworthy for creative problem-solving. Here are some of the most intriguing innovations the BD+C community has brought to our attention this year.
| Dec 4, 2013
First look: Dubai's winning bid for World Expo 2020 [slideshow]
Dubai has been chosen as the site of the 2020 World Expo. HOK led the design team that developed the master plan for the Expo, which is expected to draw more than 25 million visitors from October 2020 through April 2021.
| Dec 4, 2013
Meet the 'world's greenest building': One Angel Square
The 500,000 sf, 14-story One Angel Square in Manchester, England, is being promoted as "the most environmentally-friendly building in the world."
| Nov 27, 2013
Wonder walls: 13 choices for the building envelope
BD+C editors present a roundup of the latest technologies and applications in exterior wall systems, from a tapered metal wall installation in Oklahoma to a textured precast concrete solution in North Carolina.
| Nov 26, 2013
Construction costs rise for 22nd straight month in November
Construction costs in North America rose for the 22nd consecutive month in November as labor costs continued to increase, amid growing industry concern over the tight availability of skilled workers.
| Nov 25, 2013
Building Teams need to help owners avoid 'operational stray'
"Operational stray" occurs when a building’s MEP systems don’t work the way they should. Even the most well-designed and constructed building can stray from perfection—and that can cost the owner a ton in unnecessary utility costs. But help is on the way.
