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Must see: Developer stacks shipping containers atop grain silos to create student housing tower

Must see: Developer stacks shipping containers atop grain silos to create student housing tower

Mill Junction will house up to 370 students and is supported by 50-year-old grain silos.


By BD+C Staff | February 14, 2014

In a different take on shipping container student housing from Christian Salvati's work in Connecticut, a new student development has just opened to tenants in South Africa.

In less than a year, developer Cintiq built a 15-story structure, using pre-existing concrete grain silos and shipping containers. Mill Junction will house 370 Johnnesburg students, providing rooftop decks and free WiFi. 

Gizmodo reports that the basis of the structure, the approximately 50-year-old silos, sat empty for years. They were retrofitted with floors, dorm rooms, and windows as a part of the process. The development is also wheelchair accessible reports The Citizen

A massive crane lifted the shipping containers onto the silos, and the final step was to decorate the containers' interior. 

 

Balanced on 50-year-old silos, the shipping containers are actually wheelchair accessible.

 

Windows had to be cut out of the thick concrete of the silos.

 

The shipping containers were lifted on to the silos with a crane. 

 

Rooftop balconies are a feature of the development.

 

The shipping containers were fitted out with new paint and interiors as a final step before habitation.

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