Shipping container building concept is part office, part sculpture

Architects have arranged shipping containers into all sorts of unexpected shapes, but few have gone as far as David Mach, whose design for a new shipping container building is quite literally a piece of art.

Developers of Edinburgh Park, a new multi-use office park outside of Edinburgh, Scotland, commissioned the artist to create a centerpiece for the quarter that would catch the eye of people traveling into the city. And boy did Mach deliver.

Assembly Studios

Assembly Studios

The UK-based sculptor approached his first building with an artistic eye, assembling 36 bright red shipping containers into an artfully arranged jumble (reminiscent of a wild Joshua Tree house concept from a few years ago). The building starts out simply enough with containers stacked on top of each other in a linear form. From there, things get a little weirder with rectangular volumes jutting out from the side of the building at various angles, creating the appearance of a fallen Jenga tower.

The building is still in the planning phase, but when it’s finished it will stand 50 feet high and 164 feet long, with a central exhibition gallery, a cafe, and work spaces.