Not known for its subtlety or understatement, the City of Las Vegas is a place of excess.
It’s the kind of place where you can expect to find a roller coaster running through your hotel lobby, or a lion family living in a casino.
So it comes as little surprise that, when Vegas experiments with container architecture, the results are larger than life.
In December 2013, the city celebrated the opening of Downtown Container Park, a colourful open-air shopping centre and entertainment venue.
Two years in the making, the elaborate project was intended to revitalise Downtown Las Vegas.
Built from 43 converted shipping containers and 41 locally manufactured Xtreme cubes, the 56,000 square-foot development is a feat in cargo-tecture innovation.
A customised three-storey container elevator connects the 39 shops, restaurants and bars that inhabit the retail space.
The complex also features an interactive play area, known as The Treehouse, and a massive 40-foot steel Praying Mantis.
Among the eclectic range of boutiques, galleries and eateries at Container Park, wine bar Bin 702 is a favourite with visitors.
The hip shipping container bar offers patrons indoor and outdoor drinking and dining.
Made of two adjoining recycled shipping containers, the structure’s industrial edge is offset by warm wood interiors.
The popular watering hole features a roof deck where guests can take in the spectacle of the sprawling Container village below.
