Modular construction has been most commonly associated with industrial projects in the past. However in recent times, significant advances in implementing processes and materials to build and deliver more sophisticated and complex structures has allowed this construction methodology to be adopted for commercial, infrastructure and residential projects more frequently. Aside from the known time saving advantages that are inherit with modular construction, increasingly, the more resource-efficient and greener processes associated with this methodology are also being acknowledged.

 

With this in mind it is my belief that modular construction will continue to expand its range of applications and that its limited use currently in South Australia presents a unique opportunity for me should I be successful with my fellowship application. I also believe that continued growth in this field will encourage South Australia to become an incubator for the development of future building technologies and offer new growth in the manufacturing industry; a major priority for the Department of State Development.

 

My project proposal is made up of two key components; research of best practice techniques in Australia, Asia & Europe, and the testing and application of findings on real projects in South Australia.

 

The research component is made up of four different parts:

 

The first will be an ‘audit’ of modular construction capability currently in South Australia. With the assistance of my mentors, in particular Paul Davy, I will be able to meet with companies such as Nu-Tek based out of Monarto and Lemessieur at Port Adelaide to understand local capacity.

 

The second will be an exploration of modular construction companies at the forefront of this field in Australia including but not limited to: Lend Lease (National), Hickory Group (Vic), Modscape (Vic), ARKit (Vic), Prebuilt (Vic), Ecoliv Sustainable Buildings (Vic) & Ark Modular Structures (QLD). All of these organisations have their own fabrication facilities and produce structures that range from single room dwellings all the way up to seven-story apartment complexes.

 

The third will be facilitated by a national construction company where I will be provided access to real projects currently being built in Asia and installed in Australia. This company is a market leader in remote construction and frequently adopt modular construction to deliver these projects. They are continually undertaking their own R&D as they expand their capacity in this field and I will have the benefit of accessing their work done here to date and in the future.

 

I will be invited to accompany employees when they complete their own inspections of project builds in Malaysia, Vietnam, China and Thailand.

 

The final part of the research component involves travel to northern Europe to visit leading modular construction companies such as: Huf Haus, Cadolto, Baufritz (Germany), Ursem (The Netherlands) and Moelven (Sweden/Norway). In some instances, these organisations have been at the forefront of pre-fabricated structures and turn-key buildings of this type for more than 50 years and will offer exposure to the world’s best practice in this field.

 

Concurrently throughout the term of the Fellowship, I will be a project team member at GGDAA working on a new inner-city child care centre for the University of South Australia which is to be a modular construction. Lessons learnt during my travels can be applied here during the design phase all the way through to construction, installation and commissioning.

 

Looking forward beyond the fellowship, it is my hope that knowledge gained working on the UniSA project and during travel, will equip me with the necessary skill set to advocate for modular construction for projects I work on in future practice.

 

Having been a team member on one of the first residential buildings in the Bowden redevelopment and experiencing first hand the desire of all parties to explore new technologies, I feel modular construction could play a role in how that precinct develops. Residential projects such as this, as well as health care facilities, schools, aged care living and hotels are some other examples of projects I have been exposed to in the past, and will continue to be in the future, where modular construction methodologies could potentially be applied with great success.

 

The Jack Hobbs McConnell Travelling Fellowship offers its recipient a once in a lifetime opportunity to pursue a passion and fulfil their ambition in a way that could not be achieved with local training and experience alone. Such a privilege would be invaluable to my career development and enable me to continue to build on my endeavours both in practice and in advocacy for the value of the architectural profession.