15 levels in 6 days
a chinese construction company has recently completed a 15 floor (level 9 earthquake resistant) commercial building within a 6 day period. the amazing feat was only achievable through the prefabrication of all building components, resulting is a massive reduction in build waste (1%), site impact and economised budget.
(via gizmodo)
the footprint of a prefab construction impacts far less on the building site compared to a traditional building foundation. As this method also employs off-site fabrication and assembly, there is a significantly reduced impact on the site with regard to disturbance, run-off and waste. It is much easier to control waste streams in a factory, as waste can easily be separated for recycling at the point of creation on an assembly line than on a building site, where experience tells us, material separation is often difficult to achieve. From required building material, up to thirty to forty percent of building material waste generated from conventional building ends up in landfill, compared to as little as two percent waste achieved through prefabrication methods.
whilst the notion of prefabrication usually brings to mind the standardized, modular and non-specific architectural outcomes, we have been exploring in practice and research, the potential of large scale timber manufacturing with respect to differential prefabricated housing models (implementing parametric models + fabrication patterns).
matt gallagher. ufo studio. USYD. 2010
solid timber housing manufacturing. MHM + ufo. 2009
dean foskett. london met. ufo studio. 2009
we see the prefabricated or off site kit variable assembly as the future mediation between low budget one size fits all modules and one off high end boutique architecture. whereas the prefabricated process is governed by efficiency of space often complying with minimum area requirements and replication of unit type we are interested in the potential spatial variations possible both internally (double height volumes, overhangs), externally (courtyards, terraces) and on a neighbourhood scale that modern fabrication processes allow for.
