I have lost count of the amount of emails I have had from all over the world asking for tips and advice about this. People travel to see me to look at what we have done as they want to do something similar themselves.
01 Find some land: Ask around about empty plots of land in your neighbourhood – approach developers, car park owners and the council. My site belonged to the architects I used to work for and was staring me in the face for a while before I realized!
02 Get permission: We sketched out a design, then spoke to the planning department at the council. They were really helpful. You might need someone to help you with the design of your development. An architect should be able to draw it up for you for the planning application.
03 Get some shipping containers: These are available online, varying wildly in price. You will need to hire a crane or HIAB truck to transport them when you are ready.
04 Utilities: You will need to think about where water, sewage, electric and gas are going to come from. This is also something that should inform your choice of site. Get prices for these connections before you begin as it can be very costly.
05 Design: Think about how to configure your containers and where you will need holes cut; an architect can advise and you will also need a metal worker to do the cutting. We positioned the containers side by side then offset them and cut out the middle, creating a central space.
06 Warmth: How you are going to stay warm is a very important question. We insulated the walls and lined them with plywood. We installed a wood burner, which heated the space quickly, but very cold days required additional plug-in heaters.
07 Further considerations: create a welcoming and comfortable atmosphere for your customers using internal lighting, furniture landscaping, decoration and styling. Good luck!
