Shipping pallets are like LEGOs - you can build practically anything out of them. Over the years we've seen some amazing structures created with these recycled materials - from emergency housing to swanky pads, sweet interiors, temporary theaters and even gardens. You can find shipping pallets in every country in standard sizes, and they can usually be picked up for free or at most for a few dollars apiece. Read on to see some of our favorite architecture projects built from shipping pallets and get inspiration for your next masterpiece.
Shipping Pallet Emergency Shelter
New York firm I-Beam Design was working on a design for emergency housing when they thought about using shipping pallets. Found anywhere around the world, they are a ubiquitous building block and set about to come up with an easy to build shelter. The Pallet House shelter can be built with only basic tools in about a day and can be upgraded over time with insulation and other materials for more permanent housing.
Jellyfish Theatre in London
Shipping pallets are a great and inexpensive building block for temporary structures. As these do not need to stand the test of time, the pallets can be put up quickly to form basic structures like this theatre in London. The Jellyfish Theatre was up and running during the summer of 2010 and could seat 120 people for its performances.
Amsterdam Office Made From Shipping Pallets
Need to upgrade your interiors? Shipping pallets are low cost ways to build walls, desks, tables, shelves and seating. Take it from Most Architecture who designed the interiors for Brandbase, an advertising agency in Amsterdam. The economical, sustainable and creative office was built using 270 shipping pallets.
Pallet Garden at Canada Blooms Festival
Take your design ideas outside and into your garden by using shipping pallets to form planters, walls, walkways and even structures. b sq. Design Studio Inc wowed visitors at the Canada Blooms Garden Festival with this funky and super fun shipping pallet garden.
Affordable PalletenHaus
German firm, Palleten Haus has been focusing their design efforts lately on affordable housing using none other than the shipping pallet. One of their first versions was the stellar modular pallet house, which showed in many spots around Europe. Efficient in terms of energy use and affordable in terms of materials, the PalletenHaus is 60 sq meter (655 sq ft) house, used 800 pallets and roughly cost of €8 per pallet.
Casa Manifesto in Chile
This gorgeous and modern home was designed by James&Mau built by Infiniski and includes shipping containers and a shipping pallet rain screen. The screen helps the home naturally cool by allowing air to move around the structure. Casa Manifesto was built for about €80,000 and is heated and cooled with a geothermal heat pump system.
