The housing shortage, skills shortages and the cumbersome nature of construction could herald an offsite revolution. It could be good news for architects argues Thomas Lane
The accepted wisdom among architects is that offsite construction is inflexible, expensive and results in ugly, identikit buildings. There is some truth in this – designing for a manufacturing process inevitably means some constraints on flexibility, in many instances offsite systems cost more than traditional methods and there are plenty of examples of cheap, nasty-looking system-built projects out there.
But this could be about to change as three big factors converge to drive growth in modern methods of construction.
The first is that we need to build lots of houses quickly to mitigate the housing crisis. Housing minister Gavin Barwell sees offsite as a key part of delivering 1 million new homes by 2020.
The second, linked factor is skills shortages. In his report Modernise or Die, Mark Farmer says a combination of the failure to replace retiring workers and low productivity means construction faces “inexorable decline” unless it embraces MMC. The major housebuilders have stuck doggedly to traditional cavity-wall construction but are weakening in the face of skills shortages. Crest Nicholson recently announced it planned to build 2,000 modular homes a year, with a prototype being produced early next year.
The third factor is that the construction sector is ripe for seismic, disruptive change. We are still delivering buildings in fundamentally the same way we did 100 years ago. This involves fragmented design, delivery and operation with people putting together buildings bit by bit on cold, muddy sites in the pouring rain. No wonder there is a skills shortage.
Uber came along and disrupted the taxi trade, with readily available cars and low fares – the black cab trade is toast unless it radically changes the way it does business. Airbnb is busily disrupting the hotel trade, the high street is threatened by online retail and the main reason we still have landlines is the need for broadband connectivity.
Legal & General has spotted construction’s weakness and decided to use its enormous financial muscle to revolutionise the whole homes delivery model. It is taking end-to-end control of development, design, delivery and in some cases operation, which places it in the same position as the car industry. With this degree of control it can drive out inefficiency and reduce costs. Barwell says other institutional investors are interested in following L&G’s lead.
Should architects be worried? Quite the opposite – in a surprise reversal of fortunes L&G has said it is putting the architect back in charge of the design stages, as one professional needs to take control of the whole design process. The ability of architects to engage with clients, think laterally and systematically places them in a strong position in this brave new world.
Their inventiveness can bring new approaches to design within the constraints of the manufacturing process. The combination of BIM and sophisticated production-line technology brings mass customisation within easy reach. It could be an exciting time to be an architect …
Original link - BD online
