Carlsbad’s Shipping Container Storefront

All of these changes, seeming to offer locals and visitors more compelling reasons to stay in North County rather than traveling down to San Diego, have slowly taken shape. In Carlsbad, in particular, it appears that the city is making big strides to create a master plan that takes full advantage of our beautiful weather, unique village, and seven miles of coastal splendor.

One interesting addition that seemed to pop up over night, was the outdoor park and dining area on the corner of Carlsbad Village and State Street. What was once a very nondescript parking lot is now a fun, little park and outdoor eating area.

If you live in or around Carlsbad, the first thing you saw in 2012 was a shipping container pop up in the space, which may have made you think construction is coming. In reality, numerous construction crews use shipping containers as a headquarter on building sites.

Instead a cute iron fence went up, some green turf was rolled out, outdoor seating was sprinkled throughout, and like a scene out of “Transformers”, the shipping container opened up to reveal a waffle shop. What!?

The Boxd Waffle Shop is no longer occupying this creative space; now we have an equally fun healthy bistro, Choice Superfood Bar & Juicery. Watching this transformation take shape made us start to wonder about how other communities are using containers as storefronts, restaurants, and housing.

This trend of using shipping containers as semi-permanent and permanent buildings is being seen throughout the country. Why use a shipping container instead of a traditional building? Cost, quantity, time, and sustainability have all been factors for the people using shipping containers to house their businesses.

Now that you have seen a local company’s use of this unique building material, we thought we would pull together some other communities that have seen the rise of shipping containers in their area.

G-pod Dwell