Five key outcomes from the discussion
Engage early
Manufacturers, main contractors, supply chain and customers need to collaborate early in the design process. Adopting a retrofit strategy, and asking architects to ‘modularise this’, seldom works.
Manufacturers aren’t project managers
Factory conditions don’t translate seamlessly to construction sites. Turn-key solutions that aim to cut out consultants and main contractors rarely go smoothly.
Fit for purpose
Don’t push modular for the sake of modular. Let a project’s value drivers, and the market, dictate the construction method.
Celebrate success
Celebrate successful case studies of this new generation of modular buildings to banish historic poor perceptions.
Design with future in mind
In education especially, modular should be designed with future expansion in mind, to enable an agile response to population increases. Consult on the carbon strategy from day one and build circular economy principles into the design.
