Converted Containers

The converted shipping containers aren't a new discovery and in fact they are becoming extremely popular. However, this popularity doesn't extend itself to South Africa, meaning that there is a gap in the market that we are trying to tap into. The concept of these containers are either the same as an actual greenhouse, whereby plants are grown inside a glass structure, or as horizontal farming, whereby plants are grown in soil. Although the concept is the same, the structure is different. These containers are converted shipping containers that are designed to grow plants either using a hydroponics or aquaponics system and the use of natural light from the sun or the use of UV lighting.

Seeing as the conversion of a container into a better and more useful purpose isn't a new discovery, we need to look at what has already been done (both structurally and design). Therefore, in this post, we will look at companies that have converted shipping containers to grow their desired plants, as well as the name for the container and their design.

Converted Containers

Cropbox

Along with "exponentially higher" yields, the CropBox promises that their complete growing system also uses 90% less water and 80% less fertilizer than conventional agriculture does. 

The latest entry into the growing urban agriculture sector pairs a high-tech hydroponic growing and monitoring system with one of the darlings of the repurposing movement, the humble shipping container, yielding a "farm in a box" that can produce large quantities of fresh local vegetables year-round.

The CropBox, which is manufactured by long-time greenhouse builder Williamson Greenhouses, is an outgrowth of a project of Ben Greene and Tyler Nethers, who are developing the Farmery, an urban farm and grocery in North Carolina that uses shipping containers to grow strawberries, greens, lettuces, herbs, and gourmet mushrooms.
The rest of this article can be seen on Farm in a box produces an acre's worth of crops in a shipping container.

Growtainer

A Growtainer™ container (patent pending) is a highly engineered modular and mobile vertical production environment: a specially designed and constructed 40’ insulated shipping container that has been modified to provide the optimum controlled vertical environment for growing a wide range of horticultural and agricultural products in all environments and climates. The results are a significantly higher yield in a shorter time than all conventional production methods. With a Growtainer™ container, it is now possible to grow almost anything, almost anywhere.
More information can be seen on their website, under The Portable Farm of the Future.

Freight Farms

These shipping container growing units from Freight Farms feature high-density vegetable & herb production, and include everything needed to go from seed to table, year-round, in a fraction of the space as a conventional greenhouse.
Ideas for methods of growing more produce in and around urban areas, close to where the food will be consumed, come in all sorts of shapes and sizes, but one shape in particular keeps popping up in urban agriculture, especially when it comes to year-round growing and cold climates. Shipping containers (also known as intermodal freight containers), while probably not the first thing to come to mind when it comes to growing vegetables, are a great choice for upcycling and repurposing for urban farms, because they're affordable, readily available, and built to last for decades, and with some extensive retrofitting, can be used as climate-controlled indoor farms.

The rest of this article can be seen on Leafy Green Machine is a complete urban farm system in a shipping container.

Greenhouse Containers

Urban Farm Units

The limited space and pollution generated within our cities do not pose ideal environments in which to engage in agricultural activities. Despite this, the demand for obtaining locally grown food is there. New technologies of cultivation such as hydroponics are now making it easier to access fresh produce, as they can be applied in situations where expansive areas of land are not available. Damien chivialle has created an open-source model in the form of ‘urban farm units‘ (UFU), which seek to supply urbanites with organic provisions, while minimizing their transport in response to these factors.
Designed as a shared garden ‘aboveground’, the module consists of a shipping container with a greenhouse extension on its roof which may be moved and placed anywhere there is space. Its purpose is to be used to farm produce according to the needs of local residents, as well as enhance the existing fabric – shared gardens and restaurants – of our boroughs.
The rest of this article can be seen on Shipping container greenhouse urban farm unit by Damien Chivialle.

GrowUp Box

GrowUp was founded in 2013 by Kate Hofman and Tom Webster to build sustainable commercial urban farms growing food for local markets. With lots of online talk about aquaponics and urban farming, Kate and Tom wanted to get growing! They decided they needed a demonstration farm – and designed and built The GrowUp Box.
Built in 2013 with the help of over 300 supporters and a successful Kickstarter campaign, The GrowUp Box is a small-scale agricultural production unit as well as a space for events and community engagement.
Having spent the last year producing small quantities of delicious herbs, salads, microgreens and tilapia, supplying to local restaurants and establishing a strong network of advisors, partners and customers, GrowUp is now developing London’s first commercial aquaponic farm.

More information can be seen on their website, under their story.

Efficient City Farming

This year, Efficient City Farming took home the prize for the category Agriculture, Water & Waste. If that sounds like a shoo-in for a company that plants a greenhouse on top of a shipping container full of fish to create a perfect aquaponic ecosystem that can sustainably provide both protein and vitamins from any parking spot in the world, keep in mind that the competition was stiff. Then they bested the winners in all the other categories -- a story that will raise chuckles as the company grows under this bright new spotlight.

The rest of this article can be seen on Efficient City Farming wins top award at the "Academy Awards of Cleantech".

Therefore above containers, their designs as well as their names, is a quota of what has previously been done and sets the bar of what I need to accomplish. Majority of the designs make use of simple logos and the colour green. In order for our greenhouse container to standout and have its desired impact, the use of colour and brand design needs to be different from what has already been done.