Panya Go Boonsirithum, a Thai-born naturalized Filipino, relates how his employer, Arcya Commercial Corporation, built City Hub Mandaluyong, a spartan, dormitory-type inn for blue-collar workers from old container vans,.
A few years ago, the real estate company was contemplating how best to make use of a a piece of property it owned at Barangay Mabini, Mandaluyong City.
It was the Fil-Thai, a graduate of production design, who came up with the inspired idea to turn discarded container vans into rooms for rent.
“I can’t take the credit for pioneering the use of container vans as a mode of shelter,” Boonsirithum said in an interview with Entrepreneur magazine.
He must be referring to how such vans were converted into boutiques and retail shops selling bargain clothes, shoes and bags in Metro Manila sometime in the 2000s.
“Our company just went a little further and used them as the main structure for our buildings. They met all criteria that we were looking for: sturdy, mobile and cheap to construct. Plus, they were environment friendly since we are recycling old, discarded vans,” Boonsirithun adds.
Besides, the discarded vans were cheap, at P200,000 each.
Looking back, Boonsirithun, who supervised the designing and layouting of the inn, narrates that building the structure was a logistical challenge because they were working around a tight bed-spacing rate.
“Our study showed that bed-spacing in the area costs anywhere between P1,000 to P1500 a month, a rate that a minimum-wage earner can afford. We must work around that budget with considerable return on investment.”
The final structure consisted of four 40-foot container vans stacked in pairs, with double-deck beds, communal shoe racks, showers, toilets, a dining area with cable TV, and cooking and wash areas.
A container van can accommodate 22 beds with a rental rate of P1500 each month inclusive of water and electricity. It has air-conditioning facilities available on an eight-hour schedule nightly.
Inaugurated in April 2011, City Hub Mandaluyong is now 60 per cent occupied. Surprisingly, the dorms attracted not only blue collar workers but professionals as well, including call-center agents and teachers working in the vicinity.
Boonsirithum’s next project is to design mobile classrooms using container vans for an NGO.
Adapted from: Entrepreneur.com