Brilliant Bamboo builds a sustainable parklet with BXD

When Stoke-on-Trent social enterprise Brilliant Bamboo secured a one-acre brownfield site in the heart of the city, founder Gemma Thomas saw the opportunity to create something special.

Located on a disused concrete patch where the historic Minton pottery factory once stood, the site is now being transformed into a pioneering urban ‘parklet’ – a vibrant community space centred on sustainability, creativity and environmental impact, featuring artworks and more than 400 bamboo plants. In order to provide storage and room to hold workshops, Gemma needed a practical, flexible solution that could support the vision of a low-impact, adaptable space, while reflecting the project's ethos of reuse and regeneration.

She was recommended BXD Containers by a contact while searching for recycled units for the parklet. Gemma said:

“Part of our ethos at Brilliant Bamboo is making sure we reuse, recycle and upcycle as much as possible and give things a future use. I went with two colleagues on a road trip to Burton to their yard. It was completely out of the ordinary for us, but Pete showed us around and explained the price points and lifespan of each type, from well-used units to newer one-trip containers. We wanted somewhere people would feel safe and comfortable, so the newer option made sense.”

Impressed by the business’s professionalism and expertise, Brilliant Bamboo purchased a container which BXD converted into a workshop with a door, window, lining and heating capability. They also acquired another older container elsewhere, and BXD picked it up, painted it to match, stored both units and delivered them to Stoke.

Now, the older container serves as storage and the newer one as a creative workshop, playing a vital role in supporting events, activities and everyday use of the parklet. Gemma added:

“Everybody we have dealt with at BXD has been professional, understanding and great. They were so flexible when our move-in date kept changing. I trusted them with all the logistics and they made it easy.”