Industrial Containers Become a Modern Marketing Suite

Multidisciplinary design studio A Work of Substance used timber and glass to soften the industrial feel of these four shipping containers that have been transformed into a modular, collapsible and sustainable marketing suite for a logistics company in Hong Kong

Design Anthology: What’s unique about the building and its location?

Maxime Dautresme: The building has a very low footprint and can be easily collapsed and moved around to different locations. The site in Tuen Mun has a large expanse of untouched nature, with no services around. In response to this, we had to come up with a system where our design could be be easily implemented without being too complex. 

What was the brief to you for the project?

To create a transportable marketing suite for logisitics company Goodman Westlink.

How did you approach the project — what design references or narrative did you try to incorporate into the space?

As Goodman is a logistics company, we wanted to design a space that is simple, efficient, and sustainable. We used 4 containers to create 6 different spaces that make up the marketing suite.

Please tell us a little about the material choices for the space. 

We applied marine plywood to the exterior and oak to the interior finishing of the steel containers. We designed the large glass openings to bring natural elements into the space and allow potential customers to see the surroundings. Overall, we wanted to soften the industrial look as that’s what Goodman is doing in their own business centre — making the experience more human by bringing natural and softer materials into their building.

How long did the interior fit-out process take?

The entire construction process took 4 months.

As told to / Suzy Annetta
Images / Dennis Lo