The shipping container business of the Normandy company Girard is popular even in Brittany.

Saint-Paul-de-Leon (Finistère), Le Cormier (Hère) and Elbeuf (Seine-Maritime) all have one thing in common. These three municipalities have already, or will welcome in the near future, fully dismountable facilities made from recycled shipping containers. Everything was installed, be it the kitchen units or the washbasins, in Saint-André-de-l’Eure, in Normandy, on the premises of the young company Eco Construction G.

Thus, at the beginning of spring 2024, a restaurant opened on the Breton coast in the Pays de Leon area of ​​about one hundred m2, including kitchen, room and reception (four assembled containers). A hair salon of approximately 20 m2 has joined the garden of an independent hairdresser in Le Cormier, Wednesday 17 April 2024. Finally, in the coming weeks, a snack bar with a small kitchen will be installed opposite the Elbeuf circus theater. In addition to the hair salon, two other structures are to be dismantled and stored in anticipation of the new season or new event.

The Eco Construction G adventure began in June 2022. Fabrice Girard, originally from Saint-André-de-l’Eure, decided to return to his homeland. It put an end to his Parisian exodus. “I went to work in the Paris region after receiving an engineering degree from INSA (National Institute of Applied Sciences) in Rouen,” confirms the founder and now co-manager of Eco Construction G. I wanted to start a business and thus become a private entrepreneur. I presented my project to my family during the 2021 Christmas holidays. And then I managed to bring in my father, who was an electrician, and my son-in-law, who specialized in building swimming pools. »

From the garden shed to the home, from premises for craft or commercial use, from simple storage areas to above-ground or semi-in-ground swimming pools – Fabrice Girard has expanded his offer in just a year. “What interested me in this type of construction was the recycling aspect of the containers,” emphasizes Fabrice Girard. And then, if we consider, for example, building a house, the financial benefit ranges from 5 to 10% compared to traditional construction.

Fully insulated or even wood-clad exteriors and other pools offered in this way exhibit a certain aesthetic. Combinations and surfaces are fully customizable. “One of the other big advantages of this type of construction is the speed of production and installation,” says Fabrice Girard. When our modified, remanufactured and converted shipping containers leave our workshops in Saint-André-de-l’Eure, they can be immediately occupied or used. Our customers love this, especially those living in Brittany, who account for more than 70% of our requests. » Today Eco Construction G employs three full-time and two temporary workers.

As for raw materials, Fabrice Girard purchases them from the docks of the port of Le Havre. “We work with the Netbox purchasing center, which allows us to benefit from preferential rates given the high volume of procurement negotiations,” explains Fabrice Girard. When leaving the port, a container costs us on average 2,000 euros, when delivered to our workshops in Saint-André – 2,200. “When it comes to prices, there is no unity among Eco Construction G clients. The company does not offer a catalog, but adjusted and, above all, individual prices. In this case, various criteria are taken into account, such as, for example, the degree of finishing of the building delivered to the site.