From Ship to Shop: Repurposed for Retail
Harrison Street Oasis, located in Oakland, CA, aimed to provide a home for two emerging and local retail brands, Equator Coffee-a premium coffee retailer-and Urban Remedy- a boutique health food and beverage store-with a rapidly transforming downtown urban location.
The project developer saw an opportunity to transform a tiny backyard space of a remodeled building into a raised courtyard flanked by two custom commercial modular units fabricated from repurposed shipping containers. The retail units focus their energy into the public courtyard creating an intimate gathering space with tables, chairs, and shade structures to provides a welcome oasis for customers and residents alike.
The project was embraced by the City of Oakland and its residents, who have embraced ideas like ‘Urban Acupuncture.’ The utilization of “forgotten corners” in dense, urban locations to create intimate human-scale amenities that provide life and security to the streets has become a model for many other projects currently in the works.
The project was built by UrbanBloc, Inc. a northern California based container modification company, with design and engineering performed by R & S Tavares Associates. This 570 sq. ft. project took just over 100 days to complete.
Both units were constructed to become models for future roll-outs. Studies and tests were conducted both digitally and on the factory floor with the clients to define retail environment, workflow efficiency, and optimal customer and staff interactions.
Custom requirements and tolerances for equipment and infrastructure within such a constrained envelope that needed to be integrated within the overall fabrication system and then finished to an extremely high-aesthetic fit and build quality. The units were constructed to be Plug-and-Play site ready, with only foundation and utility connections in the field. All finishes and assemblies were required to withstand the flex of road transportation yet be seamless and tight as required by Environmental Health standards for food use.
Cost Effectiveness
In comparison to brick and mortar build-outs, the clients report a savings of around 50%. This is partially in design/ build costs and partially due to the revenue generation as a result of the extremely quick timeline. Looking at future projects, the savings are expected to be even greater as the prototyping efforts, permitting and production layouts have been already invested in the units and captured by our procedures.
“We see the use of modified shipping containers as building components growing in the near future,” said MBI Executive Director Tom Hardiman. “That is one of the reasons we worked with the International Code Council to develop more resources for developers and code officials interested in this process.”
This article originally appeared in the Modular Advantage Magazine - Second Quarter 2019 released in May 2019.
More from Modular Advantage
Oregon’s Prevailing Wage Proposal: A Wake-Up Call for Modular Construction
Should House Bill 2688A become law, building projects would increase in price, face longer completion timelines, and produce significantly more waste. The bill also incentivizes contract awards to out of state businesses who would not reinvest their earnings into the local Oregon economy.
Behind the Design of Bethany Senior Terraces, NYC’s First Modular Passive House Senior Housing Project
As more developers seek to meet new regulations for energy efficiency, the team at Murray Engineering has set a new record. With the Bethany Senior Terraces project, Murray Engineering has helped to develop NYC’s first modular structure that fully encompasses passive house principles — introducing a new era of energy efficiency in the energy-conscious city that never sleeps.
How LAMOD is Using Modular to Address Inefficiency, Sustainability, and the Future of Construction
As developers, designers, and contractors seek to understand the evolving needs of the modular industry, no one is as well-versed in the benefits of going modular as Mārcis Kreičmanis. As the co-founder and CBDO of LAMOD in Riga, Latvia, Mārcis has made it his ultimate goal to address the inefficiencies of traditional construction.
From Furniture Builder to ‘Activist Architect’: Stuart Emmons’ Unique Journey
Stuart Emmons was fascinated by buildings at a young age. He remembers building sand cities with his brother during trips to the Jersey shore. His father gave him his first drawing table at the age of ten. Today, he is an experienced architect who received his FAIA in June 2025. The road he took is unique, to say the least.
Forge Craft Architecture + Design: Codes, Contracts, and Intellectual Property
Founding Principal and Director of Modular Practice for Forge Craft Architecture + Design, Rommel Sulit, discusses the implications of codes, contracts, and intellectual property on
modular construction.
Eisa Lee, the “Bilingual” Architect
Now as the founder of XL
Architecture and Modular Design in Ontario, Canada, she applies not just her education as a traditional architect but an entire holistic view on modular design. It’s this expansive view that guides her work on being a true partner that bridges the gap between architects and modular factories as they collaborate on the design process.
Tamarack Grove Engineering: Designing for the Modular Sector
The role of a structural engineer is crucial to the success of a modular project, from initial analysis to construction administration. Tamarack Grove offers structural engineering services — project analysis, plan creation, design creation, and construction administration — for commercial, manufacturing, facilities, public services, and modular. Modular is only one market sector the company serves but it is an increasingly popular one.
Engineer Masters the Art of Listening to His Customers
Since founding Modular Structural Consultants, LLC. in 2014, Yurianto has established a steady following of modular and container-based construction clients, primarily manufacturers. His services often include providing engineering calculations, reviewing drawings, and engineering certification
Inside College Road: Engineering the Modules of One of the World’s Tallest Modular Buildings
College Road is a groundbreaking modular residential development in East Croydon, South London by offsite developer and contractor, Tide, its modular company Vision Volumetric (VV), and engineered by MJH Structural Engineers.
Design for Flow: The Overlooked Power of DfMA in Modular Construction
Unlocking higher throughput, lower costs, and fewer redesigns by aligning Lean production flow with design for manufacturing and assembly.