Rethinking an eyesore: Construction Container Facelift competition results

Winners have recently been announced in the Construction Container Facelift ideas competition which invited designers to rethink the humble construction container — ubiquitous in cities around the world and a masterpiece in performance-focused design, yet hardly aesthetically pleasing in its ever changing urban contexts. 

For the winning designs, the jury favored entries that offered a realistic implementation of novel construction container solutions over merely conceptual (but otherwise intriguing) approaches.

Click here for the full brief and find the top submissions below.

1st Prize: CCIPV: Construction Container Integrated Photovoltaics based on energy generating foil
Company: Saule Technologies (Poland)
Project Author: Katarzyna Formela

Jury commentary: "The Construction Container Integrated Photovoltaics project was a submission from Saule Technologies in Poland, and was chosen as the competition winner for its modern approach that used a high tech solution to improve both the aesthetics and the functional performance of the containers. The new conceived technology would enable a custom-made design to wrap up construction containers in an ornamented envelop, creating a pleasant addition to the cityscape while at the same time generating electricity. The exterior design is applied by ink-jet printed solar cell technology which allows creative designs to harvest  solar energy and store it in portable battery stations."

2nd Prize + BB Green Award: An Urban Container Jungle
Company: Cuhaci & Peterson (USA)
Project Authors: Aram Piligian, Jr, Jeff Simmons, Devin Marie Cressman, Martin Dion

Jury commentary: "The second place winners were also selected for the BB Green award for their utilization of state of the art technology to blend nature in a concrete and steel jungle. It was chosen by the jury for its simple application and environmentally-friendly solution. Working in several stages, detachable panels and planter boxes are attached to the containers, allowing seedlings compatible with the site’s growth zone to flourish, and allow the inclusion of a green element to a usually stark construction site."

3rd Prize: A Container Surprise 
Project Author: Ludovic Marx (Austria)

Jury commentary: "The third place entry took an innovative approach, offering two different ways of integrating the container with its environment depending on the time of day. During daylight hours, the container would effectively be invisible due to a complete one-way mirror cover. At night, hidden electro features that are placed between the container face and the one-way mirrors would be illuminated. This would create a place for either artistic light illustrations, or even advertising; offering both a creative and commercial solution to reimaging the containers aesthetic."

BB Student Award: City Patch
University: Sichuan Agricultural University (China)
Project Author: Lanxin Zhong

Find the detailed design submissions, including the honorable mentions, on the competition's website.