[darnton]

They're a sort of universal building block. In Christchurch at the moment (badly damaged by earthquakes over the last year) they're used to shore up loose facades, as baffles to stop or slow falling rubble, they've been refitted to contain generators and substations, toilets, and shops. I buy my coffee each morning from a couple of guys who plopped a 10-foot container with an espresso machine on the pavement after their shop was demolished.