The first hotel in Europe ever to be made out of modified steel shipping containers has just opened in west London. According to the BBC News report, the 120-room Travelodge has been amazingly built from no less than 86 high-strength, high quality steel containers that were constructed in China and then fitted together on its Uxbridge based site.

Two different sizes of container were used in the building activity that led to creation of double rooms - measuring 16.4ft by 9.8ft (5m by 3m) and family rooms measuring 11.5ft by 19.6ft (3.5m by 6m).  It took nearly 20 days to piece the steel containers together on the construction site. The time took was largely owing to the fact that access for traditional building work, there was limited.

A Travelodge spokesman stated:

“This technique will cut down costs and also speed up construction times significantly.”

The efficient modular build technique was invented by the UK firm, Verbus Systems. Each room’s fittings and fixtures were put in place in China and then the containers were transported to the country. The structure is located on a busy lane in an area surrounded by land. Without the new technique, the Travelodge spokesman added, it was highly unlikely that it could have been built there.