Can You Join Shipping Containers Together?
Monday 16 December 2024
Updated: Friday 20 December 2024
Filed in: General
December 2024 - guest blog post by Jenni Liu
The simple answer is yes! Which then leads to the more interesting questions of why and how. In a nutshell, the reason to connect shipping containers is for extra width in conversions that require it. No need to be restricted to the standard ISO dimension of 8ft wide when you can take two, or more, and join them together.What type of building projects use joined-up containers?
Most commonly extra width is beneficial for portable buildings such as offices, classrooms, catering units and garages - or anywhere where a larger area of open plan space is preferred over a restricted width of 8ft. So this could also include workshops and plant rooms for industry, where large, specialist equipment needs to installed inside. While container conversions for most of these uses can be completed with just a single container (apart from garages where a width of at least 10ft is needed to park a car and open the doors), if you have the space and the budget for an extra wide container, then why not add the luxury of room inside to spread out. Take a look at some shipping container conversion case studies from the workshops at Containers Direct:
How shipping containers are joined together at Containers Direct
- First the full long sides of the containers are removed
- Depending on the length of the containers required, either 350mm on each side of the aperture is retained, to provide strength to the container, The aperture left is then reinforced with box section steel, or supporting post(s) in the middle of the container are created, which are reinforced with box section steel to stop the roof from dropping down.
- The containers are transported the required site as separate units, for road safety and logistical reasons. The joining up process is carried out on the customer's site.
- A PVC "Top Hat" and flash-banding is used to seal the two units together. An installation service can be provided at the point of delivery, or this can be completed by the customer using the materials and instructions provided.
There is no limit to the number of containers that can be joined together, as for practical and safety reasons the joining process can be completed on site, post delivery. You may have spotted whole "container villages across the UK, where large amounts of containers are joined up to provide areas for retail, catering and even accommodation. For example Boxpark in Shoreditch was constructed from sixty recycled shipping containers over two floors. Each container gives 8ft of width (choose containers from any length, new or used), so for example 2 x 20ft containers become 16ft wide, 2 x 20ft containers become 24ft wide, 3 x 20ft container become 32ft wide, and so on.
Together forever - sealing the deal
Once the containers have been delivered on site, it's time to complete the final step of joining and sealing them together. Containers Direct offer a full joining service where our welders will come out to your site to do this, or we can provide the materials and full instructions for you to complete it yourself. Find out more detail on this process by reading our instruction guide page.
Other containers that can be joined together
New Builds
New builds are not technically shipping containers, as they are bespoke builds manufactured in the UK, usually to accommodate special dimensions outside of standard shipping container sizes. Containers Direct specialise in building extra-wide containers, so if it's just a few extra feet of width needed, there's no need for joining two boxes together, For anything above 12ft wide, two or more new build containers would be needed for the same process as described with joined-up shipping containers.
New builds are not technically shipping containers, as they are bespoke builds manufactured in the UK, usually to accommodate special dimensions outside of standard shipping container sizes. Containers Direct specialise in building extra-wide containers, so if it's just a few extra feet of width needed, there's no need for joining two boxes together, For anything above 12ft wide, two or more new build containers would be needed for the same process as described with joined-up shipping containers.
Flat Packs
For smaller storage containers, or portable offices, flat pack containers are a low-cost, flexible option. All flat pack products are modular which allows for units together to be joined up side by side, or end to end, with a simple linking kit.
For smaller storage containers, or portable offices, flat pack containers are a low-cost, flexible option. All flat pack products are modular which allows for units together to be joined up side by side, or end to end, with a simple linking kit.
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