A Colorful Shipping Container Village That Offers Space For Startups

Innovative Startup Hub in Amsterdam

Dutch architect Julius Taminiau created this colorful temporary startup hub using steel shipping containers in an Amsterdam science park. In a bid to help create affordable office space in Amsterdam, Taminiau upcycled steel shipping containers into the Startup Village, a temporary cargotecture hub for new companies. The shipping container village is located in stacked and painted in an array of colors to help create a space that can adapt to the company's different needs. In addition to the steel container offices, the Startup Village offers space for events and gatherings that range from outdoor cinema nights to networking parties to outdoor cinema nights.

Architectural Inspiration and Design

The architect was inspired to experiment with cargotecture during his time spent at London-based Carl Turner Architects, where he worked on the Pop Brixton, a building project that transformed a derelict space into a steel shipping container community. After Taminiau moved to the Netherlands and opened his firm, Julius Taminiau Architects he decided to create a low-cost office space for new startups in Amsterdam Science Park. The architect arranged the upcycled steel containers around a large communal square conducive to events and designed the hallways and the circulation of the space to take place outside the steel shipping containers to encourage interaction between the different startups.

Eco-Friendly Construction and Sustainability

Since the building project is meant to be temporary, the Startup Village was built with recyclable building materials and an easily removable concrete tile foundation. The 155-square-foot steel containers are completely airtight, insulated, and heated with low-energy, infrared heating. Windows are installed on both sides of each steel container and can be opened to help with cross-ventilation. Taminiau collaborated with Green Art Solutions to install the green roofs and other greenery on the site.

Fostering Innovation and Collaboration

The low-cost, low-energy, upcycled steel shipping containers provide the atmosphere where new startups feel at home and provide the means to innovate, develop, grow and professionalize. If the startup needs additional space, they can move within the steel container Startup Village but also the campus area of the Science Park. The Startup Village also plans to add larger steel containers in the future for any scale-ups. At the Startup Village, the up-cycled steel containers are arranged around a central square, which are used for communal open-air events. There is a covered events space that sits at the end of the square and is used for networking parties, hosting lectures, and casual events to include movie nights. Coffee bars and meeting rooms have been set in the brightly colored steel containers to provide further opportunities for encounters and interaction and wooden walkways and stairs that connect different levels routes through the steel container village.

A Vision for Temporary Spaces

Dutch architect created a temporary startup back in his native Netherlands, and after founding Julius Taminiau Architects, the architect decided to apply the same philosophy of turning an overgrown patch of land into a low budget, temporary building space for new companies. Startup Village now sits on the site of the Amsterdam Science Park. Steel containers, with their portable, stackable and widely available qualities, are becoming a popular new startup will inspire, and collaborate across different sectors, exchanging knowledge and producing unexpected and paradigm-shifting creations.