For sale: shipping container that's now a stylish office/garden room

This former shipping container is now a fully-functioning office/garden room. It was converted by Bert & May for its own use and bears all the hallmarks of the fashionable interiors brand.

The exterior has been painted in bright red and the front is glazed to allow natural light to flood into the interior.

The internal walls are covered in the company’s best-selling, distressed timber cladding with wood flooring. It is also wired for electricity.

The container measures 20 ft by 8ft and is 8 ft high and was converted for use as office/meeting space for Bert & May staff at its Tockwith storage and distribution yard, near York.

The business, founded by Lee Thornley, has a showroom in Bethnal Green and one in Chelsea Harbour, London. It has just opened a head office/showroom in Foundry Square, central Leeds, hence the decision to sell the container, which is now redundant.

There are also another two more, unfinished containers for sale at prices to be agreed with prospective buyers.

Bert & May launched after Lee, a former barrister, renovated a property in Spain and turned it into a boutique hotel.

The reclaimed materials he furnished the hotel with were a big hit with guests and he began selling them to interior designers and architects.

After investing in an artisan tile business and designing his own range of tiles, he branched out into engineered and distressed wood for use on walls and floors and now has his own design paints and fabrics, along with kitchens, bathrooms, brass taps and concrete worktops and basins.

The firm’s marketing manager, Ruth Webber, says: “We have an eye for the usual and unique and we love to create different spaces.

“The shipping container has the industrial and modern rustic style that has become synonymous with Bert & May. We used our reclaimed wooden cladding, along with crittall-style windows.”

Prospective buyers are advised that the price is £10,000 and the building is “sold as seen”. Delivery is extra. A flat bed vehicle with a crane is the usual way of delivering containers so access can be an issue.

All three containers are available to view at the Tockwith yard, which is open today, February 3, from 10am to 3pm for a “clear out” sale. All sale stock is half price and includes reclaimed finds, tiles and marble and concrete basins. You can also make an appointment to see the shipping containers Monday to Friday between 9am and 5pm. Bert & May’s yard is at Unit 14, Marston Business Park, Tockwith, YO26 7QF, www.bertandmay.com. email: [email protected].