Salt Lake City to get first mid-rise shipping container building in North America

Site demolition work was recently completed in downtown Salt Lake City to make way for City Center Lofts, a seven-story condo complex that will be constructed from shipping containers that were previously used to move goods across oceans and continents.

Designed by shipping container specialist Quik-Build, Bernardsville, N.J., with Cooper Roberts Simonsen Associates as the local architect, the structure will house eight residential condo units and an art gallery space on the main floor. City Center Lofts will be constructed of approximately 50% recycled content by weight, and will offer such amenities as no- or low-VOC finishes, radiant heat, low-e high-performance windows, on-demand hot-water heaters, a private balcony, garage space for each unit, first-floor bicycle storage, a green-planted roof, and water-efficient landscaping. The building is scheduled for completion in March 2009.