In Malaysia, containers pop up as budget hotel rooms

Pop-up, recyclable and foldable hotel rooms are all familiar concepts to regular Springwise readers, so we couldn’t resist sharing yet another application we recently learned about, this time in Malaysia. Located in Kuala Lumpur, 41 Berangan is an 11-room budget hotel that has made the most of its limited urban space. Nine of the hotel’s variously sized rooms are a traditional style situated within the hotel building itself, but two of the rooms—what the hotel calls its courtyard rooms—are constructed from empty, 20-foot shipping containers and form a small courtyard in the empty lot outside. Each features a garden view as a result, as well as an attached bathroom and all the other amenities enjoyed in the rest of the hotel, including air conditioning, internet access, continental breakfast and 24-hour reception. Also in use at the hotel, which just opened in February, are beds of its own design based on recyclable paper pallets. Given the high cost and limited availability of space in most urban areas, using the flexibility of shipping containers to make the most of what’s there is a smart approach. Expect to see this strategy popping up in other parts of the land-crunched world! Spotted by: Suki Goh