Classrooms are shipshape

IT COULD be a scene from this year's Ideal Home Exhibition.

Stacked one on top of the other, the steel structures with round porthole windows and shining external staircases seem to usher in a new era in stylish classroom-building.

But the pod-like additions to an east London further education college have come a long way, literally, since their former life as shipping containers carrying cargo over the China Sea.

Billed as an economical, environmentallyfriendly revolution in urban architecture, the speciallyadapted containers were given their last lick of paint two days ago, ready for use next term at Tower Hamlets College in Poplar.

Made from nine containers bolted together, with a 10th making the staircase, they will last as long as 50 years and have been wired up with heating and lighting.

The roof of the structure has been covered with a carpet of living plant material, which can be viewed from the upper floors of the college's adjoining building.

College principal Annette Zera said: "We believe environment modifies behaviour. You feel special sitting in the containers; they look really nice and it'll be easy to keep them looking nice."

The college, which has a combined sixth form and adult student body of 8,000 and annual funding of 18 million, has expanded rapidly since it was founded in 1990. In its first year, it had 1,000 students.

Ms Zera said: "The need for extra space is fantastic as more and more people want to come here. We need to find ways to expand with the land and the money we have. Our students are motivated and deserve a lively place in which to learn."

In June this year, Sylvia Merton, the college's head of building and development, began looking at ways to create six new classrooms to cope with the ever-expanding numbers of students. She said: "We were going to use temporary Portakabin-type accommodation, but they start to look unattractive and drab after a few years in use and are not conducive to good behaviour."

A visit to artists' accommodation made from the containers at nearby Trinity Buoy Wharf got Merton thinking, so she approached Eric Reynolds, managing director of Urban Space Management, the company behind the idea.

After a feasibility study, the plan was agreed by the college's board of governors and the local council.

The containers, worth about 2,000 each, were craned in to the college grounds in November.

The advantages of the structure over conventional buildings are many, according to Mr Reynolds: "They are quick, cheap and fun.

They also promote recycling as there are thousands of abandoned containers littering railway sites around the country."

At a total cost of 180,000, the project cost around a third less than a conventional building. It is also energy-efficient - there are no corridors to heat, in contrast with old buildings.

So could the concept take off? Ms Zera is positive: "The idea could be used to provide onsite housing for teachers or nurses, who can't afford to live near their work. It would be great to do lots of things with them but we will have to see how it goes."

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