Shipping container library and clinic in Indonesia designed by DPavilion Architects
Unlike the shipping container structures like Starbucks Drive Thru in Washington and Canada’s first container housing complex we published in the past, this library and clinic in Indonesia designed by Surabaya based firm DPavilion Architects is unique and fresh, breaking the boundaries of the conventional block-like container architecture.
The structure has been built from eight recycled shipping containers that branch out from a built central core. All the containers are lifted above the ground level on stilts. The containers are painted in bold primary colours and each colour pertains to a different section for children and adults to browse: While the blue container contains books on popular literature, the red houses books on science and technology and yellow is the women’s reading room. While the green container consists of the main lobby area, the red container extends into a canopy providing an outdoor terrace for reading.
The project was developed with the aim of reducing the social gap between the people of this small agricultural town by creating a library that stands as a progressive structure leading the transition from a rural to an urban context, at the same time questioning the role of architecture as a result of commodity and materiality.
Built for a reported US$820 per container, this library with its 6,000 books and a free clinic service makes us socially conscious about the importance of affordable education and free health service for the betterment of the society.
Photography by Ganny Gozaly