ARKit facility visit and conversation with Craig Chatman
Before I hopped on a jet plane for Ho Chi Minh, I visited Craig Chatman at his Sunshine North facility in Melbourne’s north-west.
Originally from an Architectural background, Craig took a punt five years ago to set up a modular construction company and hasn’t looked back. In that relatively short period of time, ARKit has grown significantly both in staff size and its output.
Craig started as a one-man band with a single project in a small shared construction/office space. Today, ARKit is in its third facility with eight front of house staff made up of architects, project managers, administrators & support staff and five full time carpenters with 25 projects on the books.
To date ARKit has completed a mix of residential (new & additions), education (we discussed our respective childcare projects), commercial and tourist accommodation projects for both regional and urban sites. They have also developed their iconic style utilising predominantly timber, something which is not simply been an aesthetic response.
From my conversation with Craig, I believe that ARKit’s success to date and strong position in the market place is a result of its commitment to prototyping, research and collaboration.
This is best captured by:
Their collaboration in 2009 with GHD to develop their initial prototype
Their 5x4 Hayes Lanes project in collaboration with GHD, Felicetti and Melbourne University proposing a more sustainable approach to urban densification
Ongoing prototyping and product development which has afforded the flexibility to deliver fully assembled modules off site or alternatively a ‘panelised’ flat pack solution.
When reflecting on the biggest issues confronting his business and the wider industry, Craig believes it is financial institutions. From his experience banks are reluctant to provide finance to clients for building projects where so much of the work is completed prior to it arriving on site. This sentiment was shared by both Modscape in our conversation and new prefabAUS CEO Warren McGregor in Architecture & Design.
In response to this, ARKit’s confidence in their controlled system has allowed them to take a calculated risk and provide bridging finance to the client.
Further to this, Craig believes that marketing has been and will continue to be crucial. ARKit have invested a lot of time and money in their website and marketing material to reflect the quality of their product and it is paying dividends.
We finished by completing a walkthrough of the facility, his ‘display building’ in the carpark and his tour with PrefabNZ in late 2013 to Germany and Austria. His tips on where to go will be very helpful for my travels to Europe in Aug/Sept this year.
Check out www.arkit.com.au to learn more
