Posted By James Flanagan
World trade flows are taking nose dives and “about 10 percent of the world’s containers are sitting empty, with most of them in China”. (via ) Also, “globally, 9.1 percent of container ships, or 427 vessels, have been idled.” (also via )
So, without a doubt, there are plenty of empty containers and empty ships to do something innovative with.
Here is a very interesting concept that I picked up at the
This is where can come in. They are an organization which proposes to build a network of containers transformed into clinics with the goal of addressing gaps in primary health care delivery.
As pointed out by the Make blog, containers have been used in other ways than just shipping. This undated article on the MSN real estate website, , explains that “with a surplus of hundreds of thousands of containers sitting vacant on U.S. docks due to the imbalance in trade, used containers sell for $1,000 to $2,500, depending on their size”. That article goes into cargo container housing, although I have my doubts about it “moving into the mainstream”.
I couldn’t find any examples of Containers2Clinics’ work, but still a fascinating idea. Once we’ve started with clinics, the next step is medical office buildings built out of containers.
About the Author
Brandon Graham commented on LinkedIn:
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I have seen many of the “home in a container” models in the Central and South Pacific, and while they are practical for simple use and even simple healthcare applications, I would highly recommend looking at the next generation of scalable, modular, transportable and durable health care space…
I have seen this solution deployed to the aftermaths Katrina and Ike and am amazed at its flexibility and scalability to the mission requirements.