Ingeniously thinking 'inside the box'

AUSTIN (KXAN) - It's a great location on South Lamar Boulevard , cuisine the Austin Chronicle calls the 'Best French pastries in town' and a name that really fits the business.

"Kind of literal, but we like it," said Dan Bereczki.

Le Boite means "box" in French, and that's just what Dan Bereczki and Victoria Davis' place is - a box once used to ship goods across the ocean. Structures well known in places like London's Container City , it is estimated there are enough of them on the planet to build an eight-foot-high wall around the equator - twice.

"It's cheaper to leave shipping containers behind empty than it is to ship them empty because of their weight," said Davis.

The container they used: 3,000 pounds of pure steel. Just imagine what it's like being stuck inside a hot, metal box in the dead of Texas' summer.

"It's never going to be a nice, cool 74 degrees, but it's completely bearable," said Bereczki. "With some fans, and we're up on top of the hill, we get a breeze."

With a recycled building, why not stay in the spirit of going green? They used a soy-based insulation in the walls and ceiling to keep most of the heat out.

Their designer, Mark Meyer of designSTUDIOmodern , has plans for other shipping container sites in Austin, including another Le Boite location and maybe even a house for the couple.

Until then, they encourage other prospective businesses to stop before taking the traditional route and to maybe, for a change, think "inside" the box.

"We really couldn't get a really good croissant anywhere, so we put those things together and away we went," Davis said.

The couple admits that when they first opened in November, a big portion of their customers were architects excited to see the structure. They also said they only spent one-third of what they would have opening the business in a traditional building.