Container offices, cabins and welfare units

What the different units are

• Container office: a steel container converted with a personnel door, windows, insulation, lining, lighting and sockets. As secure as the container it started as.
• Anti-vandal steel cabin: purpose-built site cabin with steel shutters over every opening. Designed to be left on an unattended site.
• Canteen and drying units: welfare space with worktops, sinks, water heating and space for lockers and drying.
• Toilet and shower blocks: plumbed welfare units, either mains-connected or tank-fed. See the welfare range.
• Flat pack buildings: shipped flat and assembled on site. Cheaper to transport, less secure than a steel shell.

How many people fit

As a working rule for desk-based use, allow roughly 50 to 65 sq ft of floor per person once you have taken out space for the door, circulation and storage.

Insulation, heating and condensation

An uninsulated steel box is cold in winter, hot in summer, and it sweats. Any unit people will occupy needs insulation and ventilation together: insulation to keep the temperature manageable, ventilation to move the moisture that people and kettles put into the air. Skipping the ventilation is what causes damp lining and mould, not the steel itself.

Power and water

Offices and cabins are normally supplied with an external hook-up point, a consumer unit, lighting and sockets, ready for a qualified electrician to connect to your site supply. Plumbed welfare units are either mains-fed or tank-fed; tank-fed units need a filling and waste-emptying routine, which is often the deciding factor on a remote site.

Security and siting

Steel shutters, laminated glass and lockbox door furniture all help. So does where you put it: doors and windows facing the occupied part of your site, not the boundary fence. Placement, ground and access are covered in the delivery and site preparation guide.

Buying one

Stock offices, cabins and welfare units are listed with delivered prices in the offices and cabins range. Anything laid out to your own plan goes through the quote form.