INSPIRATION
Offsite construction, one of the emerging construction industry trends, allows designing, manufacturing, and fabricating building elements in a factory. In traditional construction,weather conditions increase costs by introducing contingency fees and require extra labor hours. Onsite construction also produces a lot of material waste. Offsite construction,on the other hand, transforms the construction lifecycle in
terms of sustainability, worker safety, and quality. It incorporates a range of innovative materials, 3D printing technology, and novel assembling techniques. The first part of offsite construction involves volumetric construction which includes modular and pod construction. This technique allows the prefabrication of heavy 3D structures like rooms and homes. The second aspect includes panelized construction under which the factory develops flat panels for use in walls, floors, or roof panes. Modern commercial buildings use this technique to install partitions and support elements. Hence, startups provide modular construction solutions to replace traditional construction methods.
Irish startup Mechanical Modular Solution designs and builds modular building parts in a factory. MMS specializes in prefabrication and off-site construction and updates its PODular technology regularly. The startup uses volumetric construction techniques to build modules like low and medium-voltage switchgear systems, battery rooms, control and projection rooms, and substations for electrical purposes.
They also build low-temperature hot water rooms (LTHW),cooling pump rooms, and processes that interface buildings for mechanical infrastructure. Under laboratory construction,MMS builds biohazard labs and other modular rooms for pharma and biotech applications.
US-based startup Guerdon builds large off-site modular construction projects and multi-family housing. Guerdon develops systems-built IBC/IRC code products using factory-built modular construction technology. The startup focuses on large-scale projects ranging from multi-family modular townhomes and apartments to office buildings, schools, military barracks, senior housing, and more. They work with climate-control settings and also comply with industry-standard building codes. While Guerdon manufactures building parts in the factory, it also does site work and parallelly constructs foundations to save time and reduce cost. This solution is sustainable and delivers consistent quality.
