For a while now, there’s been an architecture trend in using steel intermodal containers – or storage containers, shipping containers; however you prefer to call it - as a structural element for the construction of homes.

The reasons are many. You can customize your design not only because of its materials and shape but also because they all have the same size, width and length, making these storage containers modular elements to the construction. Combining them into a larger assembly is as easy as piling them on top of each other. Shipping container homes also benefit from the fact that storage containers are designed to last very long, through thick and thin. It resists harsh environments and endures extreme weather, usually being the last to fall in an Act of God situation like hurricanes, tornadoes, and tsunamis. Plus, they are relatively less expensive than conventional construction, very easy to transport and eco-friendly because - differently from traditional construction where you mix a lot of materials - all shipping container homes work with is steel.

Sure, there are also some disadvantages; not everything is perfect.

The temperature, for one, is a complicated aspect of shipping container homes. A storage container house requires better insulation than most of the regular houses, which uses construction materials like wood and bricks. And the building permits for steel, while common in industrial real estate, can be a bit difficult to get with residential real estate depending on the state your storage container house is being set up.

But, overall, storage containers are a pretty impressive and stylish alternative to conventional construction, so our team at RealEstateAgent.com decided to push the trend beyond the construction of Tiny Homes across America, and pitch other real estate possibilities for storage containers besides the shipping container homes. Here we go!

Shipping Container Bar

Do you Brew Beer at Home and it’s so good that a lot of people have been asking you to commercialize your brewskies? Distribution is tough, and the craft beer market is very saturated. Setting your own bar, where you can sell your own but also other craft beers is a smart move. It’s a way for you to build your fanbase, raise the value of your brand while maintaining an eye on the quality of it and getting a first-hand grip of the clientele’s tastes.

The space is ideal for an interesting cozy bar. People don’t even need to be in it. If you want to, you can have the inside of the storage container all for the kegs and other bar essentials, while all your patrons sit outside of it on bar stools. Just cut a big window and place a big bar counter on the sill.

The novelty of a shipping container bar alone will earn you clientele, and you can double up on that by making said shipping container bar mobile! Instead of having to deal with rent costs, you can make it a sort of food truck that announces its whereabouts via social media and goes wherever people are.

Just watchout for the liquor license: to legally sell beer, brewers must seek the competent authorities and make everything legal, otherwise your work will be for nothing and you’ll get drunk in sadness inside your big storage container.

Shipping Container Movie Theater

Here’s one crazy idea: a pocket movie theater. Storage containers are already pretty dark, and that always helps, but the thing about a shipping container movie theater is thinking forward on how most of the screenings are hardly full. You have a big expensive real estate that cannot afford to screen “small” movies audience-wise, so all they play are blockbusters. Independent movies, non-blockbuster movies and even old-out of the circuit-movies have their importance; maybe by setting up a shipping container movie theater circuit, those movies will be seen. It would take what? 20-30 people to fill the room? All you need is to learn how to reduce noise pollution from the outside via a superb insulation work, so the acoustics get 100%, improving the movie-watching experience but we believe that – from all of those suggestions – this one is one of the most intriguing ones.

Storage Container Salon

Is this too out of left-field? We don’t think so. Think about barber shops and small salons. They are usually small in space. And even if it’s big in space… is it really necessary? You can easily make a barber shop or a salon in a storage container. If you are a hair stylist that wants to start your own business because you want to bite other people’s work profit and not the other way around, a storage container salon is the best idea. And, again, double up the novelty of it and make it mobile! You can do pro bono work by providing free haircuts to low-income communities, practicing and doing good while getting your name out there. Just don’t overdo the decoration; go with the industrial feel and follow the “less is more” motto: invest on good lighting and retro barber chairs, set some big mirrors, one backwash shampoo station and you’re ready to go.

Shipping Container Wine Cellar

This one is a She Shed of sorts, in the sense that it only makes sense if built outside of the home. If your house is a Shipping Container Home, even better; it will look harmonious. Throw a nice vintage rug on one spot and set up two velvet chairs and a couch for wine tasting fun, or just use it as a big walk-in cellar. It’s a pretty impressive feat that would immediately raise the price of your house and would wow every guest you show off to saying “Hey, come with me inside the shipping container wine cellar so you can pick your favorite sauvignon blanc” (or Pinot Noir or whatever type of wine is fancy to your taste).

Just one note here: the shipping container wine cellar cannot have windows - or, at least, the weather control must be really nice, as warm temperature can damage the wine.

Shipping Container Pop Up Store

If you think about it, any business that sells dry, non-perishable goods is a good fit for a shipping container pop up store. Picture yourself walking by a shipping container pop up store in urban neighborhoods like Brooklyn (New York), Wynwood (Miami), Frelard (Seattle) and East Nashville (Nashville)… of course you would get inside to take a peek; right? A clothing or sneaker shipping container pop up store could be a big hit. A comic book stand maybe? You might even convince other people to open their own shipping container pop up stores so you make a whole trendy square filled with pop up stores? Maybe it's sort of a storage container shopping mall where the stores rotate from year to year or every 6 months? That's interesting, right?

Storage Container Dog House

Go overboard! A storage container dog house is just like Scooby Doo’s house: a mansion! But, maybe, you have two or three dogs… then it becomes an interesting thing. You can make little rooms, set playstations, water fountains… the only problem is that it will be so cool and comfortable that you will barely see them, right? They’ll just order takeout, Netflix and chill all the time and never go outside their shipment container home.

Or any other idea, really! Storage Container as housing is a hot concept. Can’t you picture something like a nice therapy office in a nice backyard, or even a small very exclusive Charter school or Homeschool station?

Let’s make this a brainstorm: tell us YOUR pitch for the use of a storage container in real estate!