Back to the shipping container, most of the major structural modifications are now complete (off-site prior to delivery). Here are some photos (click to view full size)⤵
As you can see there have been some slight changes to the original drawings with added windows. The mods were done by RCS Albury as it was more convenient for them do so on their premise as my site is without power for the time being. They are a bit dearer that other vendors (eg in melb/syd) but the shipping killed any savings regardless. These guys weren't too far and were a smaller company so much easier to deal with, I was able to travel there and talk to the director what I needed and show him physical plans and drawings etc. They did a good job, pretty much all the spec from my drawings - they have done some pretty big and impressive jobs which you can see here:
https://www.ruralcontainers.com.au/latest-projects/
The container itself is a high-cube (initial design was GP) which allowed extra headroom so I could put windows in, they are hard to come by used out here so I was lucky. It is about 20 years old but in decent condition only a single ocean trip and was used as a removals container for Grace AU. All in all it hasn't had a hard life, with minimal surface rusting and no dents. The internals are slightly different (despite ISO) with added reinforcements and hooking to strap down any cargo, bit of a shame that I have to cover them up.
The square roof cutouts are for clear whirly birds which I have now installed - they will serve as a skylight and part of the ventilation system, they are removable for later ducting. To prevent the space from feeling too much like a dungeon I have also taken advantage of the extra headroom to install windows just to let some natural light in. I have kept them small as to not compromise security they will also be glazed with Plexiglas XT resist, in the rare case someone manages to get in (would have to destroy entire window before breaking plexi) it would be very difficult fit anything through them anyway (especially the more valuable larger stuff). The container cannot be opened from the inside either and there will be additional security systems in place (GPS/GSM alarm + cam). There will be a glass sliding door to fit inside the front doors but that will be last to go in once the container is populated for obvious reasons.
More to follow soon!