Boxpark is a food and retail park made out of refitted

shipping containers A shipping container is a container with strength suitable to withstand shipment, storage, and handling. Shipping containers range from large reusable steel boxes used for intermodal shipments to the ubiquitous corrugated boxes. In the context of ...

in Britain. It was founded by Roger Wade, who described it as the "world's first pop-up mall". The first Boxpark was launched in

Shoreditch Shoreditch is a district in the East End of London in England, and forms the southern part of the London Borough of Hackney. Neighbouring parts of Tower Hamlets are also perceived as part of the area. In the 16th century, Shoreditch was an impor ...

in 2011, another was built in

Croydon Croydon is a large town in south London, England, south of Charing Cross. Part of the London Borough of Croydon, a local government district of Greater London. It is one of the largest commercial districts in Greater London, with an extensi ...

next to

East Croydon station East Croydon is a railway station and tram stop in Croydon, Greater London, England, and is located in Travelcard Zone 5. At from , it is one of the busiest non-terminal stations in London, and in the United Kingdom as a whole. It is one of th ...

in 2016, and a third opened in

Wembley Wembley () is a large suburbIn British English, "suburb" often refers to the secondary urban centres of a city. Wembley is not a suburb in the American sense, i.e. a single-family residential area outside of the city itself. in north-west Londo ...

in late 2018. Other Boxparks are also planned for other cities and countries.

Origin

According to its founder Roger Wade, who started out with the street fashion shop and label

Boxfresh Boxfresh was a British fashion label founded in 1989 by Roger Wade. The name originated from early hip hop slang for a pair of trainers being "fresh out of the box". History The first clothes produced were customised prints on vintage stoc ...

, the idea for a shopping centre made out of shipping containers has its origin in 1999, while he was attending German trade shows with Boxfresh. For each show, he would need to build a mini shop that would then be demolished, and he wondered if he could build a trade show stand in a container that could be reused. He said: "That was the beginning of my fascination, in 1999. Years later a friend was running retail developments, so some time in 2008-09 I wondered 'why not build a whole retail development out of containers?" The first Boxpark was built in 2011 and was described "the world's first pop up mall". However, by then shipping containers had already been used as pop-up shops, office and retail spaces around the world, for example the portable

Puma Puma or PUMA may refer to: Animals * ''Puma'' (genus), a genus in the family Felidae ** Puma (species) or cougar, a large cat Businesses and organisations * Puma (brand), a multinational shoe and sportswear company * Puma Energy, a mid- and d ...

City shop in US cities, and the

Dordoy Bazaar Dordoy Bazaar ( ky, Дордой Базары, Dordoj Bazary, russian: Рынок Дордой; also spelled Dordoi Bazaar in English) is a large wholesale and retail market in Bishkek, Kyrgyzstan. It is one of Asia's greatest public marketplace ...

Bishkek Bishkek ( ky, Бишкек), ), formerly Pishpek and Frunze, is the capital and largest city of Kyrgyzstan. Bishkek is also the administrative centre of the Chüy Region. The region surrounds the city, although the city itself is not part of ...

Kyrgyzstan Kyrgyzstan,, pronounced or the Kyrgyz Republic, is a landlocked country in Central Asia. Kyrgyzstan is bordered by Kazakhstan to the north, Uzbekistan to the west, Tajikistan to the south, and the People's Republic of China to the east. ...

. The company has plans to expand to other countries; however, a retail park also called Boxpark that opened in

Dubai Dubai (, ; ar, دبي, translit=Dubayy, , ) is the most populous city in the United Arab Emirates (UAE) and the capital of the Emirate of Dubai, the most populated of the 7 emirates of the United Arab Emirates.The Government and Politics of ...

is not part of this company.

Boxpark Shoreditch

The first temporary shopping centre, backed by Charles Dunstone of

Carphone Warehouse The Carphone Warehouse Limited was a mobile phone retailer based in London, United Kingdom. In August 2014 the company became a subsidiary of Currys plc (previously named "Dixons Carphone"), which was formed by the merger of its former parent Ca ...

, was built at the Shoreditch end of

Bethnal Green Road Bethnal Green is an area in the East End of London northeast of Charing Cross. The area emerged from the small settlement which developed around the Green, much of which survives today as Bethnal Green Gardens, beside Cambridge Heath Road. By ...

on part of the former Bishopsgate goods yard in Shoreditch. Boxpark opened in December 2011, initially made out of 60 recycled shipping containers over two floors, with 40 in the lower floor, 20 in the upper floor. Originally intended to open for five years, the centre is still operating. Boxpark Shoreditch has 19 restaurants and bars and 27 shops. The Boxpark at Shoreditch was redeveloped in 2017, with the upper deck becoming the focus for street food at the venue.

Boxpark Croydon

On 20 March 2015, it was announced that a second Boxpark would be built in Croydon to coincide with the regeneration project

Croydon Vision 2020 Croydon is a large town in south London, England, south of Charing Cross. Part of the London Borough of Croydon, a local government district of Greater London. It is one of the largest commercial districts in Greater London, with an extensive ...

. The centre was built with a £3 million loan from the

Croydon Council Croydon London Borough Council is the local authority for the London Borough of Croydon in Greater London, England. It is a London borough council, one of 32 in the United Kingdom capital of London. Croydon is divided into 28 wards, electing 70 co ...

and intended to be a temporary structure that would last for five years, until homes and offices could be developed on the site. The scheme was designed by BDP, and the two-storey structure is constructed out of 96 shipping containers. It is in the form of a semi-enclosed market hall with units arranged around it, and provides 24,000 sq ft of retail and restaurant space, double that of Shoreditch. The Boxpark in Croydon has a covered seating area, as it was found that trade dropped off during the winter months in Shoreditch when it was exposed to the elements. Boxpark Croydon has 36 shop units and is focused on dining and drink outlets. It opened in October 2016. It also hosts events such as music performances, kickboxing and screenings of films and football matches.

Boxpark Wembley

A third Boxpark opened near

Wembley Stadium Wembley Stadium (branded as Wembley Stadium connected by EE for sponsorship reasons) is a football stadium in Wembley, London. It opened in 2007 on the site of the Wembley Stadium (1923), original Wembley Stadium, which was demolished from 200 ...

in December 2018. Boxpark Wembley is the largest one yet, covering a floor area of 50,000 sq ft, with a 2,000-person capacity events space. Boxpark Wembley has 30 units, and 24 food and drink retail outlets have opened at the venue. As with Boxpark Croydon, the open hall/events space may be used for events such as music performances and screenings. It is regularly used as a fan zone for those attending football matches, concerts and other events held at Wembley.

References

External links