second-hand shipping containers form 'kotobuki' cheese factory by micelle in japan

a cheese making factory in japan by micelle ltd.

hyogo-based architecture firm micelle ltd. has completed the kotobuki cheese & meat factory in kagoshima, japan. located on what used to be a demolished car park of an old department store, the new structure takes shape as an arrangement of second-hand shipping containers, creating an interesting contrasting effect with the rural surroundings. the building is designed to include functional processing facilities, as well as a food education center.

all images by shimizu ken

using shipping containers as structural modules

the client was the one who suggested the use of shipping containers for the realization of the factory. at first, the team at micelle ltd. was surprised at this idea, but after observing the area in depth, they accepted. ‘in this area, there are many farms and suburbs where sea shipping containers are used as warehouses, often with silver facades and faded in greenery.’ lead architect tomoki katada shares.‘I was somehow convinced that this was a very impressive ‘japanese countryside’ scene, but containers were in fact an everyday material.’

the architects used shipping containers as modules and manipulated the gaps between them to create a functional working space that corresponds to the local context and individuals’ needs. the modules are arranged in a parallel formation, and in the gaps between the modules, a single-flowing shed —like the sawtooth roof of a factory— is erected to provide light, heat, and ventilation to the north side of the building.

shipping containers with different histories

the elevation presents itself as a sequence of figures, container-shed-container-shed-container, with a contrast of figurative-abstract-concrete-abstract-concrete, thus eliminating the vertical subject-object relationship. by creating a grouping of symbolic parts to balance the containers without becoming too diagrammatic, the building is able to integrate itself into the disparate but strangely integrated japanese cityscape in a contrasting way.

indoors, the plan is cross-modular and as free as possible. as a result, the modules are fragmented and appear in the interior. the second-hand shipping containers are of the same standard, but each one has a different history which is evident in its exterior appearance. a wide range of characteristics such as chipped layers of paint, scratches, joints, and stickers, as well as their various expressions are incorporated into the building design.