One of the most common reasons to buy a used shipping container in the UK is to set up a catering facility, often carrying some sort of ‘alternative’ vibe. That is certainly applicable to a new initiative in Brighton.
While the coastal resort of often thought of in terms of its grand Regency buildings, the Pavilion and its beach, it has its own less salubrious corners, like any other city. In this case, that is certainly true of a graffiti-blighted spot on St Peter’s Street, close to Brighton Station in the city centre.
As Brighton and Hove News reports, Westfield Investments, which bought the site from the city council in 2020, wants to set up a yoga studio and cafe in shipping containers on the site.
Planning permission has been sought after a smaller but similar scheme agreed in 2020 fell through. The nature of the activity is designed to deal with the “natural lack of surveillance” of the enclosed space, referred to in the planning application document.
“The introduction of additional formal activity onto the site will help alleviate such nuisance. Consequently it can be seen that the containers will have an acceptable visual impact,” the submission continues.
While yoga and a café might fit in with the funky and alternative vibe of one seaside resort on the south coast, in another there are plans involving a shipping container that are somewhat dystopian. This does not means something dreadful is planned for Bournemouth, however.
The dystopia in question is the theme of a model village experience inside a 30 ft-long used container, the Bournemouth Echo reports.
Local artist Stuart Semple is the creator of Estate, a model of four derelict concrete tower blocks on a 1:24 scale. It is one of a number of open-air artistic exhibits and installations that will be on display at the Triangle from March 1st to April 3rd.