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Refurbished shipping containers ^[5] aren’t just useful for clever economical housing ^[5] anymore. Like London subway car architecure ^[6] and the Greentainer Design Project ^[7], this design concept makes public space more flexible and eco-friendly by re-using discarded material that is easily moved. This tri-level, 11,000-square-foot Puma store, known as Puma City, is made of 24 refurbished shipping containers and is fully dis-mountable so it can be packed up and shipped anywhere. Currently traveling around the world, the store was designed by our favorite shipping container architects LOT-EK ^[8] and completed in September 2008.

With a painted logo on the outside and complete renovation on the inside, the shipping containers’ past life is well-disguised. While the structure of the shipping containers is evident in the multiple frames created by the knocking down of the shipping containers’ walls, the open and well-lit environment makes the industrial aesthetic seem almost intentional. Additionally, built-in details, such as the two decks located on the upper floors and recessed lighting, gives the store a greater sense a permanence and less like a prefabricated structure that can simply be folded up and moved.

The store is actually not the first example of Puma’s efforts in mass customization in its retail stores. We covered ^[9] Puma’s store opening in 2006 in New York City’s Union Square. Back then, the athletic brand was able to set the entire store up in less than a week thanks to the fold-out capabilities of container architecture.

+ LOT-EK ^[10]
LOT-EK Video on Inhabitat > ^[8]

via Treehugger ^[11] and Jetson Green ^[12]

Images courtesy of Danny Bright and LOT-EK ^[10]