A new entertainment and hospitality complex in Austin, The Pitch, has been made out of repurposed shipping containers.
Designed by the Austin-based firm Mark Odom Studio, The Pitch consists of 23 shipping containers that serve as food and beverage outlets, as well as co-working spaces and viewing areas that look onto live entertainment and volleyball and pickleball courts. The Pitch is part of a large sports venue and entertainment complex for Austin FC soccer fans and the community.
“The developer, Karlin Real Estate, was interested in using shipping containers; they had not worked with a container concept before and really wanted to lean into the idea,” Mark Odom, founding principal, Mark Odom Studio, said in a statement. “We have previously studied the use of containers for commercial, retail, and multi-family designs, all of which were un-built. We feel that The Pitch is the first project of its kind in Austin and the region.”
The containers come in two standard modular sizes: 8 by 20 feet and 8 by 40 feet. The containers are stacked to create two stories, then grouped into five separate building pods of varying square footages. The ground-level containers serve as food and beverage outlets for local vendors. The second-level containers serve multiple functions: viewing decks, interior conditioned gathering spaces, private office space, private party rooms, and Austin FC game-watching parties.
In addition, three 40-foot-tall containers, placed on their ends, function as wayfinders from afar. They also include restroom facilities and electrical rooms on the ground level.
On the Building Team:
Developer: Karlin Real Estate
Architect: Mark Odom Studio
Landscape architect: TBG Partners
Builder: Austin Commercial and Citadel Development Services
Fabricator: Makehaus Design and Fabrication Studio
MEP engineer: Bay & Associates, Inc.
Structural engineer: Leap!Structures
Civil engineer: LandDev Consulting
Container consultant: Falcon Structures
![The Pitch ext 2](/sites/default/files/inline-images/The%20Pitch%20ext%202.jpg)
![The Pitch int](/sites/default/files/inline-images/The%20Pitch%20Int%20.jpg)
![The Pitch int 2](/sites/default/files/inline-images/The%20Pitch%20int%202.jpg)
Related Stories
| Jul 15, 2014
Michael Graves talks with Washington Post about new design eye from life in a wheelchair
Celebrated American architect Michael Graves sits with the Washington Post to talk about how being on a wheelchair changed the way he focuses on design.
| Jul 15, 2014
A look into the history of modular construction
Modular construction is more than a century old, and throughout its lifespan, the methods have been readapted to meet specific needs of different eras.
| Jul 14, 2014
Meet the bamboo-tent hotel that can grow
Beijing-based design cooperative Penda designed a bamboo hotel that can easily expand vertically or horizontally.
| Jul 14, 2014
Foster + Partners unveils triple-glazed tower for RMK headquarters
The London-based firm unveiled plans for the Russian Copper Company's headquarters in Yekaterinburg.
| Jul 11, 2014
First look: Jeanne Gang reinterprets San Francisco Bay windows in new skyscraper scheme
Chicago architect Jeanne Gang has designed a 40-story residential building in San Francisco that is inspired by the city's omnipresent bay windows.
| Jul 10, 2014
Berkeley Lab opens 'world's most comprehensive building efficiency simulator'
DOE’s new FLEXLAB is a first-of-its-kind simulator that lets users test energy-efficient building systems individually or as an integrated system, under real-world conditions.
| Jul 9, 2014
McCarthy Building Companies, Inc. adds Nicholas Sandersfeld as Director of Business Development to newly opened San Jose office
California's largest general building contractor just opened up an office in San Jose, and named Nicholas Sandersfeld as the new Director of Business Development.
| Jul 9, 2014
Top U.S. cities for design professionals
Though New York and Los Angeles are often seen as the sole hubs for design jobs, other design epicenters are scattered between the coasts.
| Jul 9, 2014
First Look: SOM's design for All Aboard Florida Fort Lauderdale rail station
The lightweight and luminous design "responds to its setting and creates a striking infrastructural icon for the city," said SOM Design Partner Roger Duffy.
| Jul 8, 2014
Does Zaha Hadid’s Tokyo Olympic Stadium have a design flaw?
After being criticized for the cost and size of her stadium design for the 2020 Olympics in Tokyo, a Japanese architect points out a major design flaw in the stadium that may endanger the spectators.