"Lego Block" Eco Town to Be Built in Scotland

Container Community Appropriate on Lego's 50th Anniversary

This month is the 50th anniversary of the creation of Lego bricks, and what better way to commemorate one of the greatest, most edutainment-oriented toys of the 20th Century than by taking their ingenious design to the next level?

Now, Scotland has unveiled plans for an environmentally friendly community made out of recycled shipping containers, inspired by Lego engineering, reports the newspaper Scotland on Sunday. Edinburgh's mixed residential and business, 300-building complex - made of steel boxes that slot together – would be the biggest of its kind in the UK.

Project developers Forth Ports expect the container community to be divided into two villages, and to be followed by some 16,000 new homes in the area. Forth Ports CEO Charles Hammond says he had drawn inspired by a visit to the small Container City project in east London.

The containers are likely to be cut out on one side and welded to another to allow for simple two-room units, with an office and living quarters. They are expected to attract artists and other creative types, at least in the beginning.

What makes them green? Modular style homes can be built much quicker, with less materials, energy and labor, than traditional construction. They are easier to service and maintain, and are typically smaller in size, also leading to less resource use.

If the entire planned development goes through, it will represent Edinburgh's biggest new homes project since the 18th Century.

Find this article at: http://www.thedailygreen.com/green-homes/latest/lego-container-community-460128