Quick Answer: A container bar cocktail station build-out in Ontario needs a single 36-inch speed rail mounted 12 to 14 inches off the floor, an ice well to the bartender’s right, and a three-compartment underbar sink at 48 inches wide for NSF compliance. Van Blanc delivers the 20ft or 40ft container shell from our 4 Brantford yards in 1 to 3 days. Real Brantford yards, real reviews (4.9 / 124+), real 1-3 day delivery. Family-operated since 1995.
In This Guide
- Why Does the Cocktail Station Layout Decide the Whole Build?
- What Makes a Container Shell a Good Bar Canvas?
- How Does the Bartender Triangle Fit Inside Eight Feet?
- How High Should a Speed Rail Sit and How Long Should It Be?
- Where Should the Ice Well Go for Right-Handed Service Flow?
- What Are the Three-Compartment Underbar Sink Specs?
- How Should You Design Back-Bar Liquor Shelving and Lighting?
- How Do Glass Storage and the Pickup Rail Speed Up Service?
- What Are the Electrical, Water, and Rough-In Realities?
- What Happens on Delivery Day and Final Fit-Out?
- Frequently Asked Questions
Reading time: about 14 minutes.
Why Does the Cocktail Station Layout Decide the Whole Build?
The cocktail station layout decides the whole build because every other choice in a container bar follows from where the bartender stands and how far the hands reach. Door cuts, electrical rough-in, the keg run, and even the patio door all resolve around that one ergonomic zone. Design the station first, then size the steel shell to fit it, never the reverse.
When a venue owner calls us about a container bar, the first question is almost always the shell size. The right question is the cocktail station. Every other choice (door cuts, electrical rough-in, where the keg run lands, how the patio door opens) follows from where the bartender stands and how far the hands reach.
In a standard bar room, a designer has 1,500 square feet to play with. In a 20ft shipping container the working footprint is roughly 19’10” by 7’8″ interior, and the bartender owns about six linear feet of that. Every inch placed wrong shows up as a lost second on every drink. Multiply by 200 drinks a Saturday night and the wrong layout costs a venue a full shift of service per week.
That is the engineering case for designing the cocktail station first and the container second. The good news: the principles bar consultants use in fixed-room bars translate cleanly to a container, with two extra constraints (the 8-foot interior width and the 8’6″ ceiling). Get the station right and the rest of the build resolves itself. This guide drills into the station mechanics; for the full venue-level picture (taproom layout, kegging line, patio integration, Ontario AGCO licensing) see the venue-level taproom and service-flow build guide.
What the Trade Calls This Build
Bar industry language matters because it changes what suppliers quote. The cocktail station is the wet station: ice well, speed rail, work surface, and pickup rail bundled into a single ergonomic zone. The service well is the same thing oriented for fast pours rather than mixed drinks. The dump sink is the small dump well for melt-water and rinses. The three-compartment sink is the wash-rinse-sanitize bay that earns the Health Unit permit. Use these exact terms when you talk to your underbar supplier or your container modification specialist.
What Makes a Container Shell a Good Bar Canvas?
A container shell makes a good bar canvas because its interior depth almost exactly matches a standing bartender’s six-foot working reach, so the steel rectangle frames the station instead of fighting it. The three shells that dominate Ontario container bar builds are the 20ft standard dry, the 40ft standard dry, and the 40ft high cube. A shipping container reads as restrictive until you sit inside an empty 40ft high cube and realize the bartender’s working envelope (the six-foot arc within reach of a standing person) is almost exactly the depth of the container interior. The shell sets you up.
Christian LeBlanc, second-generation operator, Van Blanc Ent. Inc.: “I grew up walking these yards with my dad, so I learned early that the box is the easy part. When a venue owner stands inside an empty 40ft for the first time, you can watch them realize the steel is not the problem. The decisions that make or break the bar are the inches inside it. We size the shell to the station the owner wants, not the other way around, and that one habit saves people a renovation.”
Three shell options dominate the Ontario container bar build:
Shell Sizing for Cocktail Bars
- 20ft standard dry: 19’10” x 7’8″ x 7’10” interior. Fits one bartender, one cocktail station, six-foot front bar, eight to twelve seats outside. Right for pop-ups, patios, and event bars.
- 40ft standard dry: 39’5″ x 7’8″ x 7’10” interior. Fits two bartenders, two cocktail stations back-to-back or side-by-side, twelve-foot front bar, full back-bar liquor wall. Right for permanent venues with 100 plus seats.
- 40ft high cube: Same length and width as the 40ft, but 8’10” interior height. The extra foot matters for ventilation, overhead glassware racks, and anyone over six feet behind the stick.
The 8-foot interior width is the constraint that flips everything. A standard fixed-bar plan assumes 36 inches behind the bar plus 24 inches of customer side plus a 60-inch service aisle behind. A container bar collapses that into 7’8″. The cocktail station has to be tighter, the back bar shallower, and the bartender’s path of travel almost vertical (turn 90 degrees rather than walk three steps). The skilled container bar designer treats that constraint as a feature, not a bug. A tight station is a fast station.
How Does the Bartender Triangle Fit Inside Eight Feet?
The bartender’s triangle fits inside a container’s eight-foot interior width by collapsing the three work points (ice, spirits, and the glassware-and-tools station) into a single arm’s-length envelope around the drink-build surface. Bar consultants teach the bartender’s triangle: ice at one point, spirits at another, mixing tools and glassware at the third, with the drink-build surface at the center. Every inch added to that triangle is a lost second per drink build, and a properly sized station handles 80 to 90 percent of drink builds from a single standing position with no foot travel.
Translate the triangle into the container shell:
The Container Triangle
Ice well at hip height to the bartender’s left of center. Speed rail of spirits directly under the bar top, immediately in front of the dominant hand. Glassware on an overhead rail or a back-bar shelf within one quarter-turn reach. Drink-build surface (the work board between speed rail and pickup rail) is the dead center of the triangle. The bartender stands and the entire triangle is inside an arm’s length envelope.
Two practical numbers anchor the triangle. The front-to-back depth between hip-against-speed-rail and the pickup rail (where finished drinks land for the server or guest) should max out at 10 to 11 inches. Any deeper and the bartender leans forward, which is the back injury that ends careers. The left-to-right span between ice well and spirits speed rail should sit inside 24 inches, which is one full arm reach. Hit those two numbers and the station builds drinks at 30 to 60 seconds each through a Saturday night without the bartender turning a hip.
This is why we tell venue owners to skip the “designed by the contractor’s brother” Pinterest layouts. The geometry is not negotiable. The ergonomics decide whether the venue can do 200 covers or 80.
How High Should a Speed Rail Sit and How Long Should It Be?
A speed rail should sit 12 to 14 inches above the floor, and a single 36-inch rail holding up to 14 bottles is the length sweet spot for most cocktail programs. The speed rail is the single most important piece of underbar hardware in a cocktail program. It holds the well spirits (vodka, gin, rum, tequila, whiskey, and the workhorse modifiers) directly under the bartender’s pour hand. Bottle in hand, count to one, hand back to the speed rail, count to one, next bottle. That rhythm is the whole show.
Speed Rail Specifications That Actually Matter
The bottom of the speed rail should sit 12 to 14 inches above the floor (industry standard, validated by Cabaret Designers and Kobayashi Bar). Mounted lower than 12 inches, the bartender squats. Mounted higher than 14 inches, the rail blocks the underbar sink access. Standard lengths run 22 inches, 32 inches, and 44 inches. The single 36-inch rail is the efficiency sweet spot: holds up to 14 bottles, covers the entire well spirits program of most cocktail bars, and keeps the bartender’s pour-arm inside a 30-inch arc.
Avoid double speed rails. A double rail is 11 inches deep and forces the bartender to lean forward an extra 10 degrees to reach the bar top. That tiny lean stacked across 200 drinks is the back surgery that retires veteran bartenders. A single 36-inch rail at 12 to 14 inches off the floor outperforms a double rail on every metric: ergonomics, drink speed, and Health Unit cleanability under and around the bottles.
Paul LeBlanc, owner, Van Blanc Ent. Inc.: “Forty years in Asian trade taught me the cheap part of a build is always the steel. The expensive part is the inch you got wrong inside the steel. We have seen container bars where the rail went in at sixteen inches because the contractor used a generic spec, and three months later the venue swaps bartenders every two weeks because every shift comes home with a sore lower back. The 12-to-14-inch height is non-negotiable. It is not a preference. It is the difference between a working bar and a renovation.”
Where Should the Ice Well Go for Right-Handed Service Flow?
The ice well should sit at the center or left of center of the cocktail station so a right-handed bartender scoops ice with the left hand while the right hand works the spirits speed rail. Roughly 85 to 90 percent of bartenders in Western countries are right-handed. Design the station for the dominant population and accept that left-handed bartenders will adapt (most professional left-handers prefer the standard layout because it is what they trained on). The cocktail station should run right-to-left across the build:
Right-Handed Service Flow (Right to Left)
- Far right: Spirits speed rail (dominant hand grabs the bottle).
- Right of center: Drink-build surface (the work board where the glass sits).
- Center to left of center: Ice well (left hand scoops ice).
- Left: Mixers, syrups, juice rails, and dump sink (left hand handles batch ingredients).
- Far left: Pickup rail and POS terminal (the finished drink slides left to the server).
The bartender stands. Right hand grabs from the speed rail. Glass on the work surface. Left hand scoops ice from the ice well. Right hand pours. Left hand adds the citrus and the syrup. Right hand shakes or stirs. Glass slides left onto the pickup rail. The next ticket comes in. No turns, no steps, no reaches across the body. That is the geometry that lets a single bartender do 200 covers in a four-hour shift.
Reverse the flow for a service-bar (where the bartender only fills server tickets and never faces a guest). Service bars run left-to-right because the guest-facing logic does not apply and the speed rail can sit nearest the ticket printer for ticket-grab efficiency. Cocktail bars where guests sit in front always run right-handed-friendly right-to-left.
Ontario Cocktail Bars That Get This Right
A handful of Toronto and Hamilton container-bar builds we have supplied containers to in the last three years got this layout right. The common signal: the bartender works without crossing arms over the body. We do not name specific venues here for privacy, but the same cross-arm-free pattern shows up from BarChef to Civil Liberties to the small Brantford and Hamilton craft bars that get crowded on Saturday nights, and it carries over into the other ways we turn a steel box into a working space. The geometry is universal. The container shell is the only thing that varies.
What Are the Three-Compartment Underbar Sink Specs?
The three-compartment underbar sink runs 48 to 72 inches wide, 18 to 19 inches deep, and 32 to 33 inches tall in 16 or 18 gauge stainless, with each wash-rinse-sanitize bay sized for the largest cocktail glass. The three-compartment sink is the Health Unit gatekeeper. Ontario Reg 493/17 (Food Premises) and the federal NSF/ANSI 2 commercial food equipment standard both require a wash-rinse-sanitize bay for any premises serving drinks in re-usable glassware. Single-bay sinks and bar dip-stations do not satisfy the regulation. The three-compartment is non-negotiable in a permitted permanent venue, and most municipalities will not issue a temporary event licence without one either.
Standard underbar three-compartment sink specifications:
| Specification | Industry Standard | Container Bar Implication |
|---|---|---|
| Overall width | 48″ to 72″ (96″ for high-volume) | 48″ fits a 20ft container; 72″ pairs with a 40ft |
| Overall depth | 18″ to 19″ (front to back) | Sits under the bar die without crowding |
| Overall height | 32″ to 33″ (without backsplash) | Bar top at 42″ leaves 9″ of clearance |
| Each compartment | 10″W x 14″D x 10″ deep | Sized for the largest cocktail glass |
| Material | 16 or 18 gauge stainless steel | NSF certified, corrosion resistant |
| Drainboards | One or two (left/right) | Two drainboards = wider footprint |
The 48-inch wide three-compartment with two drainboards fits inside a 20ft container with one cocktail station. The 72-inch model fits a 40ft with twin stations. Both require a separate dump sink at the cocktail station (a small 6-inch round dump well drains melt-water without forcing the bartender to walk to the three-comp every five minutes).
The Hand-Sink That Inspectors Look For First
Ontario Health Inspectors check the dedicated hand sink before they check anything else. A bar with a three-compartment sink and no dedicated hand sink fails the permit inspection on first walk-through. Spec a small 10-inch wide stainless hand sink with hands-free (knee or foot pedal) operation in the bartender’s working zone, not at the back of the container. Mount it within two steps of the cocktail station so a bartender who handles cash or a phone can wash hands without leaving the station for 30 seconds.
How Should You Design Back-Bar Liquor Shelving and Lighting?
You should design back-bar liquor shelving as three or four stepped tiers no deeper than 6 to 12 inches, topped out at the bartender’s eye level, and light it with separately dimmed LED layers so the same bottle reads premium under an amber wash. The back bar (the wall behind the bartender, opposite the front bar) is where the premium liquor lives. The speed rail holds the well; the back bar holds the call brands, the top-shelf, and the rare bottles that sell at margin. The cocktail program revenue is on the back bar. The display matters because guests are looking at the back bar for most of the time they sit at the bar.
Back-Bar Design Constraints in a Container
- Wall depth: Container interior leaves you about 16 to 20 inches between the back of the bartender and the back wall, after the bar die thickness.
- Shelf depth: 6 to 8 inches is enough for one row of bottles. 10 to 12 inches handles a back-row plus front-row display.
- Shelf height: Three or four stepped tiers, with the top shelf no higher than the bartender’s eye level (about 5’8″ for a 5’10” bartender) so the top bottle is reachable without a step stool.
- Materials: Stainless steel for restaurant-spec, reclaimed wood for craft-cocktail aesthetic, glass with LED edge-lighting for the upscale brand look.
Lighting is where the cocktail program signals quality. LED edge-lit acrylic shelves with programmable RGB make the same Hennessy bottle read as either a budget well pour or a premium top-shelf pour depending on whether the wash is amber or cool white. Industry standard is a 16-color LED system on a programmable controller, set to amber-gold during cocktail service and shifting to a brighter cool-white during prep and cleanup. A four-shelf programmable kit is a modest line item against the rest of the build, and the visual lift it delivers is significant.
Practical lighting placement in a container:
Container Bar Lighting Layout
Track lighting across the ceiling rail above the cocktail station gives the bartender 800 to 1,000 lux on the work surface (the level a bartender needs to read a pour line on a clear bottle without squinting). Accent under-shelf LED strips throw down-light onto the back-bar bottles. Dimmer-controlled pendant fixtures over the guest-side bar top let the room mood-shift from a bright early-evening cafe feel to a moody late-night cocktail bar feel. All three lighting layers run on separate dimmer circuits so the bartender can adjust them mid-shift without leaving the station.
One detail Ontario container-bar builds get wrong more often than any other: under-cabinet LED strips installed without aluminum heat-dissipation channels. Stick-on LED strips in a closed steel container space heat up fast (a 9-watt strip can hit 65 degrees Celsius surface temp), shortening LED life from 50,000 hours to 8,000 hours and risking solder-failure smoke. Spec proper aluminum channel mounting from day one. The retrofit is twice the cost of doing it right the first time.
How Do Glass Storage and the Pickup Rail Speed Up Service?
Glass storage and the pickup rail speed up service by keeping the right glass within a quarter-turn and giving finished drinks a single landing strip at the far-left of the station, so the bartender never walks or reaches across the body mid-build. Glass storage is where the cocktail station either flows or breaks. The bartender needs the right glass within one quarter-turn for every drink in the program. Get this wrong and every cocktail adds 10 to 15 seconds of walking and reaching.
Three glass-storage zones in a container cocktail bar:
Glass Storage Geography
- Overhead rail (above the bartender’s head): Stemware, coupes, martini glasses, wine glasses. Hung upside-down on a wood-and-stainless rail. Reach up, grab, place on the work surface.
- Back-bar shelves (low): Highball, rocks, Collins, mule mugs. Stacked on the bottom two back-bar shelves. Quarter-turn reach.
- Drainboard (next to the three-compartment sink): Just-washed glasses air-dry here. The bartender pulls a fresh glass for a drink without going to the back bar.
The pickup rail (where finished drinks land for the server or the guest) sits at the far-left end of the cocktail station, between the speed rail and the front bar edge. Standard depth is 6 inches, length 36 to 48 inches. The finished drink slides left, the bartender’s right hand returns to the speed rail for the next build, and the server picks up from the left without crossing into the station. That is the 60-second drink loop: ticket comes in, ice in glass, pour, shake or stir, garnish, slide left, next ticket. Sustainable for hours.
The 60-second drink is the industry benchmark for a well-built station running well spirits and standard cocktails. A complex craft cocktail (smoked old fashioned, clarified milk punch, infused syrups) runs 90 to 180 seconds, which is why craft-cocktail bars build slower-paced stations with longer work surfaces. A high-volume container patio bar serving gin and tonics, vodka sodas, margaritas, and Aperol spritzes needs the 60-second loop to keep up with the queue at the front bar.
What Are the Electrical, Water, and Rough-In Realities?
The electrical, water, and rough-in realities of a container bar come down to four hidden systems: an ESA-certified 100 amp panel, a 3/4-inch supply line with backflow preventer, sloped 2-inch drains, and vented under-bar refrigeration. The fit-out hides inside the steel. Get the rough-in wrong and the finished bar fails the permit inspection no matter how good the layout looks. The four systems that decide pass-or-fail:
Container Bar Rough-In Checklist
Electrical: ESA-certified panel inside the container, typically 100 amp service with separate circuits for refrigeration, lighting, POS, and ice machine. Standard wall outlets at GFCI-protected 20-amp circuits along the back-bar wall. NEMA L14-30 inlet for shore power if the bar travels for events.
Water supply: 3/4-inch supply line entering at the rear bulkhead, splitting to the three-compartment sink (hot and cold), the hand sink (hot and cold), the ice well drain feed, and the under-bar refrigeration condensate. Backflow preventer at the inlet (code requirement).
Drain: 2-inch drain line for the three-compartment sink, 1.5-inch for the hand sink and dump well, all venting through the roof or rear bulkhead. The drain has to slope at 1/4-inch per foot minimum, which means the floor under the bar rises slightly toward the rear. Plan for it during the floor build.
Refrigeration: Under-bar bottle cooler (typically 36-inch wide, 18-inch deep) plus a separate ice machine (countertop or stand-alone depending on volume). Both vent forward (toward the bartender’s feet) so the heat exhaust is not trapped behind the unit and shortening compressor life.
None of this is theoretical. The Health Unit inspector will physically look at the backflow preventer, the GFCI outlets, the drain slope, and the hand-sink hot water (52 degrees Celsius minimum at the tap) before approving the food premises permit. Get the rough-in right at the modification stage and the permit walkthrough takes 20 minutes. Get it wrong and the venue eats four to six weeks of remediation with the bar closed.
Brantford to Site Delivery
Van Blanc ships the container shell from our 4 Brantford yards in 1 to 3 days across most of Ontario. Much of the build can be converted at the yard before it ships: cuts, framing, electrical rough-in, plumbing, and finish carpentry happen either here before delivery or on-site afterward, depending on what the venue’s general contractor prefers. A pre-finished container bar arrives drop-and-connect ready: tilt-deck truck sets it on the pad, the electrician and plumber make the final connections, and the bar is serving inside a week. For a permanent venue most owners start with a factory-paint shell that has only crossed the ocean once, because the doors seal cleanly and the walls take a finish without bodywork. Every quote comes with a real lead time, not a hopeful one.
What Happens on Delivery Day and Final Fit-Out?
On delivery day, Van Blanc tilt-decks the container onto a level pad, the electrician and plumber make their connections, and the crew runs through equipment install, cocktail station calibration, and the Health Unit walkthrough before a soft open. The day the container arrives at the venue is where six months of planning either lands or unravels. The sequence we walk every Van Blanc container bar customer through:
Container Bar Delivery and Fit-Out Sequence
- Site prep: Level pad, compacted gravel base, or a poured concrete pier system at each corner. Container needs to sit dead level or the doors and drawers will not seal.
- Tilt-deck delivery: Our driver tilts the deck, slides the container off, and places it on the pad. 20ft typically lands in 30 minutes; 40ft takes about an hour with site access for the truck.
- Service hookups: Electrician connects shore power or the main panel. Plumber connects supply and drain. Both inspections happen the same day if the rough-in was done correctly.
- Equipment install: Three-compartment sink, ice machine, refrigeration, speed rail, back-bar shelving. Most of this comes pre-mounted if you spec it that way; if not, count three to five days of trade work on-site.
- Cocktail station calibration: The most important hour of the whole build. The bartender stands at the station and the contractor checks every reach: speed rail height, ice well placement, pickup rail span, hand-sink distance. Adjust before the equipment is permanently secured.
- Health Unit walkthrough: Inspector visits, checks the four systems above plus signage, sanitizer concentration, and bartender hand-washing technique. Permit issued on first pass if the build was right.
- Soft open: Two or three nights of friends-and-family service to stress-test the station at real volume. Adjust glassware location, lighting dim levels, and ice well replenishment cadence based on what the bartender actually does in real service.
Most Ontario container bars we have supplied open 8 to 14 weeks after the container delivery date, assuming the modification work was already specified and parts were ordered. Bars that try to design-as-they-go after the container arrives run 16 to 24 weeks. The cocktail station blueprint should be approved before our truck leaves the yard. If you are still mapping out the brewery taproom, kegging line, and patio that wrap around this station, our guide to the wider container bar build covers that context.
Frequently Asked Questions
What size container do I need for a cocktail bar?
A 20ft container fits one cocktail station, six-foot front bar, and roughly 10 to 12 seated guests. A 40ft container fits two stations back-to-back, twelve-foot front bar, and 50-plus seated guests. The 40ft high cube adds an extra foot of ceiling for ventilation and overhead glass storage. Most permanent venues choose the 40ft; most event and patio bars choose the 20ft.
How high should the speed rail sit in a container bar?
The bottom of the speed rail should sit 12 to 14 inches above the floor. Lower than 12 and the bartender squats every reach. Higher than 14 and the rail blocks underbar sink access. The single 36-inch speed rail at that height holds 12 to 14 bottles, which covers the well-spirits program of most cocktail bars.
Should the ice well go on the left or the right?
For right-handed bartenders (85 to 90 percent of working bartenders), the ice well sits to the left or center of the cocktail station, with the spirits speed rail to the right. The right hand grabs the bottle, the left hand scoops ice. Reversing this layout adds a cross-body reach to every drink and breaks the 60-second build cadence.
Do I need a three-compartment sink in a container bar?
Yes, if the venue serves drinks in reusable glassware. Ontario Reg 493/17 (Food Premises) requires a wash-rinse-sanitize bay. The standard 48-inch underbar three-compartment with two drainboards fits a 20ft container; the 72-inch model fits a 40ft. The Health Unit inspector will not issue a permit without it.
Can a single bartender run a 40ft container bar alone?
For 50 covers an hour, yes. Past 80 covers an hour, a single bartender hits the human ceiling on ice replenishment, garnish prep, and POS turnover. Most 40ft container bars staff two bartenders (one cocktail, one service-well) and one barback for ice and glassware. The container’s two-station layout supports this without overlap.
How long does the modification work take on a container bar?
From the day Van Blanc delivers the shell to the day the bar serves its first drink, most builds run 8 to 14 weeks. That assumes the cocktail station layout, electrical, plumbing, refrigeration, and finish carpentry were specified before delivery. Builds that design as they go run 16 to 24 weeks. Our bar-station layout and service-flow design consultation locks the spec before the container leaves our Brantford yard.
What lighting works best for a container cocktail bar?
Three independent dimmer circuits: track lighting at 800 to 1,000 lux on the cocktail station work surface, accent under-shelf LED strips lighting the back-bar bottles, and pendant fixtures over the guest-side bar top. Use aluminum heat-dissipation channel for any LED strip work inside the steel shell. A 16-color programmable controller lets the bartender shift the back-bar wash from amber-gold for cocktail service to cool-white for prep and cleanup.
What grade container should I buy for a permanent bar build?
One-trip for a permanent venue. The container is making a single ocean crossing from the factory, so the paint is original, the doors seal cleanly, and the floor and walls are essentially new. Cargo Worthy and Wind and Watertight (both used grades) work for event and pop-up bars where surface rust and paint variance are acceptable. As-Is grade is not appropriate for a hospitality build.
Can the container bar be moved after install?
Yes, but plan for it. A bar built on tilt-deck-friendly skids or permanent footings can be lifted, trailered, and re-set at a new site in one day if the original utility connections are designed for disconnection (cam-lock electrical, quick-connect water lines). Permanent foundation builds are not portable. Pop-up and event bars are designed mobile from day one.
How much does a container bar cost in Ontario in 2026?
A container bar build has three cost layers, and the shell is the smallest of them. The container itself varies with size and grade, with a one-trip 40ft high cube costing more than a one-trip 20ft. Modification (cuts, framing, finishes, electrical and plumbing rough-in) is usually the largest layer and scales with finish level. Equipment (three-comp sink, ice machine, refrigeration, speed rail, glassware) is the third layer and depends on how much is commercial-grade versus entry-level. Van Blanc supplies the shell on a fixed cash-on-delivery quote and refers the modification trades; we do not gate the project on either side. Tell us the size and your postal code and we will send back an honest, all-in shell number.
Sources
- International Organization for Standardization. (2022). ISO 6346:2022 Freight containers: Coding, identification and marking. iso.org
- Cabaret Designers. (2024). Why Bar Speed Rails Are Critical to Bar Profits. cabaretdesigners.com
- Kobayashi Bar. (2025). Cocktail Station Design: Crafting the Perfect Bar Setup for Efficiency and Style. kobayashibar.com
- Government of Ontario. (2017, current). O. Reg. 493/17: Food Premises under the Health Protection and Promotion Act, R.S.O. 1990. ontario.ca
- NSF International. (2022). NSF/ANSI 2-2022: Food Equipment. nsf.org
Reach Van Blanc in Brantford
We have been supplying shipping containers across Ontario since 1995. Our warehouse is at 90 Morton Avenue E in Brantford, and we deliver right across the province on a cash-on-delivery basis. No surprise fees, no chase-the-paperwork.
Van Blanc Ent. Inc., 90 Morton Ave E Unit 1B, Brantford, ON N3R 7J7. Call +1 888-509-6658.
If you are planning a container cocktail bar in Toronto, Hamilton, Brantford, Niagara, or anywhere across Ontario, come walk the yard before you pay a dollar. We will help you size the shell to your cocktail station blueprint and ship from our 4 Brantford yards in 1 to 3 days. To see how the station ties into the rest of the venue, read our walkthrough of designing a container taproom in Ontario.
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