A NEW ‘pop up’ shopping mall made out of 60 shipping containers is to open this autumn in Shoreditch, east London.
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“I’ve always had a love for industrial design,” said Roger Wade, the man behind the scheme.
“The container is the ultimate in industrial design. Why not use it in a retail perspective?”
Called Boxpark, the mall is to go up on the site of a disused railway yard near the new Shoreditch High Street train station and Bethnal Green High Street. After five years, the containers will be their way, to be replaced by a new housing development.
“If I could have chosen any site in the world, Shoreditch would be my number one site,” said Wade.
It looks like the area’s trendy image will be reflected in Boxpark’s range of outlets: Wade says that containers will be offered to “any retailer who we think are doing something a little different”.
Boxpark is to be a two-storey affair, with 40 units for shops on the ground floor and 20 on the first for cafes and art studios.
Originally scheduled for this month, the grand opening of Boxpark is now set for October.
