Cambridge Holdings Inc. in collaboration with One City recently announced that they would soon begin the construction of a mixed-use building, which will be built out of recycled shipping containers. This will be the first cargotecture building in Nashville, and the actual construction will be done by the Carter Group.



The structure will be called C1TYblox, and it will be constructed out of 21 repurposed 40-foot shipping containers. These will be provided by the New York-based SG Blocks, which will also pre-fabricate them for assembly on the building site. The main function of the structure will be providing a small retail district with a special focus on food, fitness and providing spaces for events.

C1TYblox will be located on oneC1TY Nashville’s 19-acre campus at Charlotte Avenue and the 28th/31st Avenue Connector and will span more than 12,000 square feet. Carter Group is currently still waiting for a building permit for C1TYblox, but they are hopeful that the structure will be completed by the end of 2014.

C1TYblox will consist of ample outdoor space, which can be used for a variety of purposes, as well as several restaurants and fitness-oriented service businesses. Local business owners will be especially welcome at C1TYblox, which is all part of the overall business model of the complex, which revolves around speed and sustainability. This is also the primary reason why they decided to use shipping containers to construct C1TYblox, since it allows for speedy construction, while building using shipping containers is also sustainable and environmentally friendly.

There is as yet little information available as to what the final structure will look like, but from the digital render it appears it will be a one story complex. It also appears that the shipping containers will not be altered greatly in order to construct C1TYblox. This would be in keeping with the builders’ wish to celebrated cargotecture and make more people aware of the possibilities it offers.