Stackt Market Gives Shipping Containers a New Lease on Life

It’s a hard knock life for shipping containers on the high seas or riding the rails, but many of them can look forward to sunny retirements as custom dwellings, pop-up cafes and later this year, a mixed-use, all-season public market at Bathurst and Front streets.

Designed by LGA Architectural Partners’ Janna Levitt and Danny Bartman with Stackt founder Matt Rubinoff, the bustling Stackt Shipping Container Market will temporarily inhabit the site of a former smelting plant. After a two-year lease runs its course, the city-owned property will likely be converted into a public park. Until then, a total of 130 containers will welcome retail, restaurants and the odd artist’s space.