A containerised cold room is not a “lesser” version of a room built from sandwich panels. It is a different format, with its own advantages and limits. Here are the cases where the container is unbeatable, and the cases where the built room remains better.
5 cases where the container wins
Case 1: short lead time. You need to open in 2-3 months. A built room takes 6-12 months (survey, groundworks, slab, panel assembly, connection, commissioning). The container arrives in 8-12 weeks and works on the day of delivery. Lead time alone often justifies 80% of the decision to go containerised.Case 2: temporary or seasonal need. Shooting season 5 months/year, events, a restaurant under refurbishment, a 2-year service contract. The container stays movable property - you resell it at the end of the cycle, relocate it, or hire it out to a colleague. A built room is real estate; its asset value is nil outside the property as a whole.
Case 3: no host building. You operate in the open air (game, diversified farming, open-air markets). There is no existing structure to integrate a room into. The container is placed in the yard, in most cases without full planning permission (equipment with a footprint below the local threshold is often exempt).
Case 4: heritage or architectural constraints. A listed building site, protected farmland, an estate with strict rules. The removable container avoids heavy planning consent (usually a simple prior notification). Check with your local authority all the same.
Case 5: tax and depreciation. The container is movable equipment (it only becomes fixed if anchored). Depreciable over 7-10 years as industrial equipment. VAT recoverable. No property tax (as long as it is not anchored to the ground). A built room is real estate: it affects property tax and is depreciated over 20-30 years as a building component.
Where the built room is better
Three situations where the built room remains preferable:Very large volumes (> 200 m³). Above 200 m³, the cost of an assembled container (several partitioned units) exceeds that of a traditional built room. And architectural integration into an industrial site is better.
Integration into a coherent existing structure. If you are building a new workshop and designing the cold room into the overall plan, building the room at the same time as the structure is more harmonious.
Very long-term investment with no plans to change. If you know you will keep your room 25-30 years on the same site, never moving it: the built room depreciates over the same period, without the “movable property” discount of the container.
Outside these 3 cases, the containerised format is often the best agile B2B choice.
Comparison table
| Criterion | ecofrost container | Built sandwich-panel room |
|---|---|---|
| Lead time to operational | 8-12 weeks | 6-12 months |
| Price, 20 m³ equivalent | EUR 9,500-12,000 ex VAT | EUR 13,000-18,000 ex VAT |
| Equipment warranty | 2 years, transferable | Per installer (often 1 year) |
| Installation warranty | Included (our logistics) | To be negotiated |
| Mobility | Yes (crane truck) | No (dismantling uneconomic) |
| Residual value at 10 years | ~50% | ~10-20% |
| Accounting depreciation | 7-10 years (equipment) | 20-30 years (building component) |
| Property tax | No (movable) | Yes (real estate) |
| Planning permission | Often no (notification suffices) | Often yes |
| Dimensional customisation | Standards + bespoke | Total |
| 100 mm PIR insulation | Standard | Per installer |
| Refrigerant | R290/R744 zero-fluorinated | Per installer (often HFC) |
| Material lifespan | 15-20 years | 25-35 years (shell only) |
Conclusion: the containerised format is neither systematically better nor systematically worse. It is a different format that wins on 5 structuring criteria (lead time, mobility, tax, warranty, natural refrigerant) and loses on 2-3 marginal ones (maximum volume, integration into a build, absolute lifespan).
For the great majority of agile B2B projects we see (game, catering, diversified farming, a butcher relocating), the container is mathematically the best choice. For large-volume sedentary industrial operators, the built room remains relevant.