Further proof that ISBUs RULE!

We’re doing it in Haiti. We’re doing it in Vietnam. We’re doing it in the Philippines. We’re doing it in Japan. We’re doing it in oil fields in North Dakota and Canada. We’re doing it on Native American Reservations to provide classrooms…

ISBUs were made for creating “outreach and aid stations”. Build them, store them, ship them and set them.

You can create entire ISBU based AID communities in days. DAYS. And, because you’re building with ISBUs, you’re weathered in and weather resistant.

They’re doing it in China.

It makes sense, since all the ISBUs (Shipping Containers) in the world come from there.

Shipping containers are just big boxes. Use them as modules and you can build almost anything.

INCLUDED (a non-profit organization) built something called the Community Cube, a new  community center for Shanghai’s migrant worker community. At just over 1600 square feet, the 2 story structure was completed last year and used ISBUs as the primary building components.

It’s located in the agricultural district of Chongming, which is a part of Shanghai. They didn’t weld the boxes together, they actually used big metal plates to bolt them together so that it can be disassembled and moved at a later date. Remember that it’s modular space. That means that you can reassign or multitask the different areas created to provide a library, play area, a computer area, and even large classrooms which can be further divided by using sliding doors to create smaller spaces.

They used whiteboard surfaces on walls and sliders to allow the surfaces to be used for education or entertainment purposes. (We do this in children’s bedrooms and in kitchen pantries to allow for art and list creation.)

The corrugation that was removed between the boxes was repurposed as part of the security fencing around the building.

They allowed the “filtered sunlight” to peek in by drilling holes in the boxes to increase illumination.

Existing ISBU cargo doors were left on so that the boxes can be opened to allow even more sunlight and fair weather in.

We’re not sure what they did about insulation, but you could easily use SPF (Closed Cell Spray Foam insulation) or RIGID to insulate the boxes for four season use.

A Mini Split AC unit could easily heat and cool the spaces. Run that mini split off a battery bank fueled by photovoltaics and you’d have a pretty slick set-up, anywhere that the boxes could be dropped.

Need a school, daycare center, local medical outreach program or a community center? You could do this for very little money.

Now… take this exact same design and add a service core to the center using one of our kitchen/bath/laundry modules to the middle and you have a HOME.

Just sayin…

  Image Credits: INCLUDED