Excerpt from cbc.ca:
Not too long ago, a large empty parking lot sat along the west side of Bathurst and Front streets. Residents and visitors to the area were forced to walk by what was a barren wasteland that smelled vaguely of sewage and gasoline.
But as of Wednesday (April 10, 2019), the 2.6-acre plot of city-owned land at 28 Bathurst St. has transformed into stackt: a bustling food and retail marketplace made entirely of 120 shipping containers.
Stackt founder Matt Rubinoff used to live down the road and saw the lot as an opportunity for a public gathering space.
"This is one of the fastest growing neighbourhoods in Toronto, and so creating a public space here for people to gather and connect is a key piece for us," he told CBC Toronto.
He gathered a mix of new and used shipping containers and repurposed them into a maze of retail stores stretching a city block — selling everything from gourmet doughnuts and coffee, to mattresses — alongside art exhibits and craft workshops.
The containers themselves are "canvasses," Rubinoff said, explaining that over time some of them will be painted by artists or covered with "greenscaping."
Stackt is only temporary, as the market has a lease with the city for just two years. But Rubinoff said that's the beauty of using shipping containers that are easily assembled and disassembled.
Loading contexts...
