Wahaca on London’s Southbank.
It’s impossible to ignore the fun design of this shipping container restaurant.
Wahaca, Southbank is a Mexican themed restaurant built out of eight converted shipping containers. The containers were modified to create a two level shipping container restaurant and tequila bar complete with terrace offering splendid views of London’s river Thames.
Brightly painted over hanging containers provided a visually pleasing experience.
While standing outside its easy to be struck by the restaurant which includes overhanging containers as part of the striking design by London based architects Softroom.
Inside, with a capacity of around 130 covers the restaurant has a spacious feel. This sense of space was enhanced by glass being used to replace many of the original steel sidewalls of the shipping containers.
Creative finishing touches were then added such the painting of colourful Mexican themed murals on to the containers by Mexico based artist Saner who flew in for the project.
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Thinking of creating your own retail space made from shipping containers?
Introducing the 20ft Open-Side Container.
Relatively new to the marketplace is the 20ft open side container which is manufactured with full side opening doors for loading over-sized cargo.
With the ability to easily open both the entire side and end of the container it could be an ideal solution for entrepreneurs wanting a small scale mobile pop-up retail unit.
One significant advantage of the 20ft open side container is that the ‘off the shelf’ full side access design means no additional conversion expense is necessary to create a side opening.
This 20ft side access container could easily be converted into a pop-up shop.
Advantages of shipping container pop-up structures:
- Economical alternative to standard construction or long term retail space lease agreements
- Eye catching design helps to stand out from the competition
- Mobile. Easily move your shop if necessary
Shipping container restaurant – A talking point
Back to Wahaca. The food served was simply delicious and cocktails were flowing but as I walked around the bustling venue it was also a great opportunity to watch and hear people wonder at this unusual and vibrant example of container architectural design.
Editors note: Thank you to Wahaca for their permission to capture and use images displayed within this post. Adaptainer had no part in the supply, design or construction of the Wahaca Southbank shipping container restaurant project.