Industrialised Building

This unit will introduce students to the benefits and limitations of industrialised building through case study analysis and design exercises.

Architects have long used prefabricated construction to explore industrialised building solutions, often with chequered results. Yet recent developments show the conditions for a more industrialised approach to building – especially its promise of low-cost, more socially inclusive, and well-designed housing – have rarely been better. Australia’s housing affordability crisis, changing design needs, sustainability concerns, new material science, and the rise of digital and automated fabrication technologies, have conspired to challenge a housing industry deeply resistant to change.

Using design research tools, students will produce a report that assesses and documents case study projects and companies before modelling and developing their own prefab building project in response. Through a series of lectures and tutorials running parallel to “live” research projects within the Future Building Initiative, students will have contact with professionals and researchers active in the industry.

Learning outcomes will include the ability to analyse complex case studies using graphic, physical, and textual media for the case study report and model. Design and communication skills will be examined from the case study and design study components of the program. Additionally, students will have the opportunity to design and build scaled models in the faculty workshops and labs.