Solent Stevedores approached us to design and build a new depot terminal office for its operations in Southampton Port, so we got our container conversions team on to the case straight away.

The new building had to accommodate up to 50 people with a mix of office space, changing rooms with showers, a canteen and conference or boardroom.

What we did

We worked up a design for a two-storey office constructed entirely from 11 professionally converted steel containers.

We wanted it to be the perfect working space for the staff, so we ensured there would be a 360-degree view from the building with lots of windows, and we worked hard to take away any perceptions that it could be claustrophobic.

Once the brief and 3D designs were signed off we started the conversion work on the 11 containers at our workshop in Southampton before transporting them to Southampton Port and welding them together on-site. The construction of the new building took about four months, with 97 per cent of the work done in our own workshop.

The result

The end result is a stunning 3,500sqft, two-storey headquarters building, complete with its own balcony, that has become an iconic building in the Port of Southampton.

It is estimated that building the new headquarters from shipping containers has saved Solent Stevedores 40 per cent of the cost of more traditional bricks and-mortar construction methods.

The containers are designed with a 15-year life expectancy in harsh conditions at sea, but if they are looked after appropriately there is no reason why these containers won’t last for as long as a traditional bricks-and-mortar building.

“We wanted a new headquarters building that represented the environment in which we work in Southampton Docks, and so having it built from shipping containers seemed like the right choice. The team from Willbox has done an exceptional job, delivering our new building in just four months and saving us significantly against building using bricks and mortar. Not only that, it looks fantastic too. We are going to be very happy here.”

Clive Thomas, Commercial Director at Solent Stevedores