Cargo Shed – Storage Loft

The roof is the weakest part of a shipping container.  It’s flat, so the salt spray from sea voyages has been slowing working away at its surface.  The metal used is a thin gauge and if left uncovered, the existing corrosion would have only gotten worse over time.  We thought about just adding a simple roof over the container, but realized that if we were going through the labor of building a protective roof system – why not add a little extra height and utilize the space for storage?

Matthew comes from a lineage of fine woodworkers so he’s always trying to find some place dry to store lengths of lumber and materials.  The space above the container is perfectly suited to this.  It keeps the material close to where it is needed (the shop) and the design allows for access from either end or the center of the building.  Therefore, short or long lengths can be stored with relative ease.  In order to make the space really usable, we decided to add EMT pipe supports to divide the space into a number of short bunks. The tubing is strong, inexpensive, and acts as a roller for loading and unloading material.

This photo shows the floor deck and knee walls (prior to being raised into position) for the upper storage area.

For a little aesthetic fun, we decided to cap the storage area with a curved roof…