Archinect - News

Swedish companies unveil low-carbon wall system 60% lighter than traditional concrete

2024-03-15T12:45:00-04:00

A group of materials companies in Sweden has collaborated on a hybrid wall element with a lower carbon footprint than conventional concrete wall elements.

The joint venture, comprising concrete element manufacturer Heidelberg Materials Preca and engineered timber manufacturer Metsä Wood, is now rolling out the element for live construction projects.

Image credit: Heidelberg Materials Preca / Metsä Wood

The wall consists of a facade element in a sandwich construction with an outer layer made of 'climate-improved' concrete, intermediate insulation, and a load-bearing inner panel made of strong, material-efficient laminated veneer lumber. According to the group, the wall module has approximately 30–50% less of a climate impact than an equivalent traditional concrete wall while also being 60% lighter.

Image credit: Heidelberg Materials Preca / Metsä Wood

To test the wall, the team constructed a home using the elements. The structure was equipped with moisture sensors to monitor the wall ...

Populous designs modular Cricket World Cup stadium on Long Island

2024-01-26T18:31:00-05:00

Populous has announced its design for the International Cricket Council Men’s T20 World Cup 2024 stadium in Nassau County, Long Island.

The modular, 34,000-seat facility will be used for eight matches of the two-week tournament, which commences in June. Construction is set to begin in February and will reuse portions of the grandstand structures that were made for November's Formula 1 Las Vegas Grand Prix.

“Cricket is a truly global sport with a passionate, knowledgeable fanbase and we’re thrilled to partner with the ICC and help bring the Men’s T20 Cricket World Cup to the United States,” Jeff Keas, a Senior Principal at Populous, said in a news release. “The modular, sustainable stadium we’ve designed will create a fantastic experience for both U.S. and international cricket fans and visitors to enjoy watching the world’s best teams and players.”

Image courtesy Populous

A party deck, fan suites, and other club and cabana spaces will also be included as part of the 80,000-square-f...

Can modular housing startups be saved at a critical time for the industry?

2024-01-18T14:08:00-05:00

The notion that factory-built modular homes can serve as the salvation to America's vexing housing crisis has increasingly come under scrutiny, a report summarized recently in Business Insider.

A crippling lack of widespread success for modular housing startups can be attributed to state and federal manufacturing regulatory barriers, a lack of builders’ experience, investors’ overconfidence, local building codes, persistent social stigmas about prefabricated homes, and an overall lack of demand. The inflexibility of the prefabrication process for single-family designs is another factor hindering many businesses as well, according to the article.

Katerra and, more recently, Veev are perhaps the best-known examples. The once $1 billion Bay Area ‘unicorn’ shuttered its U.S. operation in November after constructing 170 units total in 15 years. Veev's failure can be boiled down to a fla...

MVRDV's new demountable science building has over 120,000 reusable components

2023-05-25T19:36:00-04:00

Construction of MVRDV’s Matrix ONE project, a laboratory and office building in the heart of Amsterdam Science Park, has been completed.

The six-story, 140,000-square-foot structure is the largest of seven buildings that now make up the Matrix Innovation Center, a site for scientists and entrepreneurs to develop sustainable solutions for current and future issues.

Image: MVRDV / © Daria Scagliola

As the main hub at the Center, Matrix ONE aims to be a guiding example to the other buildings at the Amsterdam Science Park. The building was made to be demountable, in which connections such as screws and bolts allow elements to be detached and reused. In addition, its floors are made using prefabricated concrete slabs with no fixed connections.

Image: MVRDV / © Daria Scagliola

The platform Madaster was used to provide a material passport system that registers all the materials and products incorporated in the building. It provides insight into the carbon dioxide storage for over 120,000 ...

Zaha Hadid Architects designs collection of emergency shelters for displaced communities

2022-12-20T11:20:00-05:00

Zaha Hadid Architects has designed a collection of tents to be used as schools, clinics, and emergency shelters for displaced communities. The 27 tents, constructed with the support of the Education Above All Foundation, have been donated to the International Organization of Migration (IOM) and the Qatar Red Crescent.

Photo credit: Luke Hayes

Described by the ZHA team as a “robust, cost-effective, and lightweight modular architectural system,” the weatherproof structures are designed to be easily moved and re-assembled, with components that can be upcycled or recycled. Supported by a curving steel frame clad with fabric, the internal environment offers an open-plan layout lit by diffuse natural light.

Photo credit: Luke Hayes

Before the donation, the tents were being utilized as schools for hundreds of displaced Pakistani children in Pakistan, and Syrian children in Turkey. In their new capacity, ten tents donated to the IOM will serve as schools in Turkey and Yemen, while five will ...

Prefab construction startup Vantem plans 15 U.S. factories

2022-07-18T15:50:00-04:00

The company, which just raised a Series A round of investment from the Bill Gates-founded firm Breakthrough Energy Ventures, builds homes using panels with a proprietary design that sandwiches an insulating layer between two structural boards.

Vantem announced it would use the recent funding from Breakthrough Energy Ventures, Quadrant Management, and TEM Capital to build 15 factories for prefabricated modular housing units across the U.S. by 2029. According to the company, its proprietary panel system has already been deployed in over three million square feet of residential space globally, including Uruguay, Brazil, Bolivia, Chile, Colombia, and the Caribbean.

"Affordable housing is a global need that must be addressed," said Vantem CEO Chris Anderson, adding, "but if we build with traditional methods, we will solve one problem only to worsen another."

One year after ambitious construction startup Katerra went belly up, the market for modular, prefabricated construction is getting increasingly crowded with several players seeking to establish early dominance and disrupt the conventional model, including Vancouver-based ...

Amid a surge in interest around modular design, architects can find new career paths

2022-06-29T11:07:00-04:00

Earlier this week, we reported on Nexii Building Solutions, a Canadian startup which The New York Times described as a “rising star” in prefabricated modular construction. The company’s $1 billion valuation, combined with the $155 million it has raised through funding rounds, demonstrates the surging interest in modular design as a tool in tackling housing affordability and carbon emissions.

Innovations in modular design have also featured heavily in our editorial throughout 2022, whether through an architectural kit-of-parts for public cultural venues, modular refugee shelters for those displaced by war in Ukraine, or office buildings that can be taken apart and reassembled in new locations.

In 2021, we dedicated a full feature article to the subject. The piece, titled For Affordable Housing, The Revolution Will Be Modularized, explored one architect’s vision for an industrial-scale solution to the affordable housing crisis; one which centered on shipping-container-sized modules c...

Startup raises $155 million to become ‘rising star’ in prefabricated construction

2022-06-28T09:00:00-04:00

One year after the failure of the ambitious construction startup Katerra, another construction technology company is seeking to pick up the mantle as a leader in sustainable, modular, prefabricated construction.

Based in Vancouver, Nexii Building Solutions has been described by The New York Times as “a rising star in the expanding green building industry,” combining a patented modular system with a reliance on 3D modeling software and third-party verification of its sustainability metrics.

Nexii's panels are fabricated in the company's two Canadian manufacturing plants. Image: Nexii/Twitter

Founded by entrepreneur Stephen Sidwell in late 2018, Nexii became the fastest company in Canadian history to reach a valuation of more than $1 billion, doing so in 31 months. Having recently completed its seventh round of funding, the startup has raised more than 200 million Canadian dollars, or 155 million U.S. dollars.

As described in a recent feature in the Times, Nexii’s patented building s...

New study finds that modular construction produces 45% less carbon than traditional methods

2022-06-15T15:03:00-04:00

Factory-produced homes can produce up to 45% less carbon than traditional methods of residential construction, according to new research by academics from the University of Cambridge and Edinburgh Napier University. A study found that two modular housing schemes designed by HTA Design, consisting of a total of nearly 900 homes, saved a combined 28,000 tonnes of carbon.

The two schemes studied were the 44 and 38-story Ten Degrees towers in London’s Croydon borough, the world’s tallest completed modular building, and The Valentine, a 10-story student housing project in London’s Redbridge. Both were completed in 2020. The report found that these developments achieved embodied carbon savings of 41% and 45%, respectively, compared to traditional construction methods.

This difference comes down to modular buildings requiring less carbon-intensive products, such as concrete and steel, and less transport for on-site workers and materials. According to University of Cambridge senior research associate Tim Forman, the study highlights the importance of quantifying carbon in construction and across a building’s life cycle. The results make a strong case for the broader adoption of modular construction, especially as it has the potential to address the challenges of the climate crisis and the shortage of housing.

...

MIT Media Lab designs and tests modular tiles for self-assembling space architecture

2022-05-16T11:50:00-04:00

The MIT Media Lab has shared insights into their pioneering project to build habitats in outer space. Named TESSERAE, the project seeks to create a highly-engineered tile which can be used as a building block for self-assembling, adaptive, reconfigurable structures.

Artist's render of TESSERAE spaceship. Credit: MIT Media Lab Space Exploration Initiative (Artist's Render courtesy of Igor Neminov)

Rather than the traditional method of transporting fixed, rigid habitation modules into outer space, creating structures such as the International Space Station, the team behind TESSERAE believes that their modular, self-assembly method can lower payload weight and reduce construction complexity, while also broadening the possibilities of what future space architecture may look like.

TESSERAE assembly concept: Flat-packed for launch, tiles released to swirl and quasi-stochastically self assemble, target geometry, constellation of multiple docked TESSERAE modules. Credit: Ariel Ekblaw

Each TE...

Virginia Tech team completes world-first observation tower with innovative low-carbon timber

2022-04-20T11:51:00-04:00

A team of students and faculty at Virginia Tech has completed an innovative observation tower in rural Virginia. The design and delivery of the project saw the development and certification of a new custom timber product, off-site prefabrication, and the discovery of the ruins of a historic building.

Photography by Kay Edge and Edward Becker

The project, formally titled the New River Train Observation Tower, was delivered to the city of Radford, Virginia. In 2018, the city commissioned Virginia Tech to design and build a train observation tower that would create publicly accessible views over the city’s New River and a historically significant railroad bridge. With a budget of $100,000, the city requested that the tower used clean-tech, low-carbon building products to showcase the city’s transition away from its industrial past.

Photography by Kay Edge and Edward Becker

The student/faculty team initially sought to construct the tower from cross-laminated timber (CLT) due to its durab...

Where modular housing meets digital client processes, new job opportunities emerge for architects

2022-04-13T09:00:00-04:00

In a 2021 feature titled For Affordable Housing, The Revolution Will Be Modularized, we explored one architect’s vision for an industrial-scale solution to the affordable housing crisis; one which centered on shipping-container-sized modules configured as various combinations of housing options.

Archinect Feature: For Affordable Housing, The Revolution Will Be Modularized

The proposal is one of many examples from our editorial of architects seeking ways of disrupting the design and delivery of housing; disruptions that address the ecological, economic, and logistical issues prevalent in traditional housebuilding. In the case of Bjarke Ingel’s Nabr, the solution is to redesign to process through which people purchase and customize a home; replacing the traditional procurement model for architects with a more welcoming, digital-first platform.

This redesign of the path to homeownership is not confin...

Kyiv-based Balbek Bureau develops modular refugee shelters for displaced Ukrainians

2022-03-29T16:58:00-04:00

With more than 3.7 million Ukrainian refugees fleeing the country and another 6.5 million internally displaced, architects in Ukraine have been hard-pressed to put their skills to work by creating the necessary shelters and accommodations required for those uprooted by the brutal Russian war machine.

One such firm at the forefront of this effort is Kyiv-based balbek bureau, an award-winning 70-member practice whose peacetime portfolio ranges from retail and residential spaces to corporate offices, hotels, restaurants, and wellness centers. Led by its founder Slava Balbek, the team has pivoted to the refugee crisis with a new project for temporary housing titled RE: UKRAINE.

Rendered image © Balbek Bureau.

The modular town system is meant to provide a modicum of dignity for their fellow citizens via the expedited delivery of an adjustable set of structures centered around four basic elements: private rooms, public recreation areas, adequate kitchens, an...

IF_DO designed a modular office building that can be taken apart and reassembled elsewhere

2022-03-17T18:39:00-04:00

Humans have led nomadic lifestyles for thousands of years. We settle in one place, move to another–some of us never even settle at all. Our lives fluctuate, but save for the odd floating office or experimental walking house, our buildings remain anchored in place. Once they’re built, they only have two potential futures: demolish, or reuse. A new building in London, however, offers an interesting alternative: demount and move elsewhere.

The office building, designed by London-based architecture firm IF_DO, was made to be mobile, as it sits atop a “meanwhile space,” a location that hosts temporary buildings until the local council develops permanent plans for the space. This building will occupy the site in London's borough of Southwark for up to 11 years, after which it will be dismantled and reassembled elsewhere.

Photo: Mike Massaro, image courtesy IF_DO

The 3,000-square-foot structure consists of five timber and steel structural modules and contains 12 micro-units wrapped around a central shared space. The modules were prefabricated off-site and assembled on-site over five months. When the building is set to relocate, its steel connectors will be unbolted and the various timber elements will be unscrewed.

Image courtesy IF_DO

Learn more about the building here.

Decarbonizing the AEC sector means innovation in architectural systems, and career pathways for architects

2021-11-22T12:52:00-05:00

As part of the AEC sector’s effort to decarbonize in light of the industry’s contribution to climate change, architects, engineers, and researchers are increasingly devoting efforts not only to the design of space but to the composition of materials, structural systems, and façades.

In the past three months alone, AEC researchers have developed 3D printing technology to convert wood waste to building materials, composite concrete made from recycled cement and carbon dioxide, and a recycled paper composite which could cool buildings without electricity.

Archinect Feature: University of Florida Graduates Mani Karami and Drew Kauffman Create Photobioreactor Facade Systems for Algae Architecture

While some devote energy to conceiving and producing materials for a more sustainable built environment, others are investigating how these materials could form part of broader façade or structural systems. In last year’s Archinect Spotlight on Thesis Projects, we spoke to University of Flori...

Assembly OSM unveils its first modular apartment unit built using car and airplane assembly techniques

2021-10-26T19:55:00-04:00

Modular construction startup Assembly OSM has unveiled its first one-bedroom apartment built using a new digital manufacturing method dubbed Post-Modular construction. Conceptualized by architects and co-founders of SHoP Architects, Bill and Chris Sharples, in collaboration with auto and aerospace engineers at Boeing, SpaceX, and Tesla, Assembly OSM aims to make high-rise construction faster and cheaper in order to address America’s housing crisis.

Assembly OSM’s building methodology takes a similar approach to how cars and airplanes are assembled. Digital twin technology is used to create collections of digitally-designed, fully customizable subassemblies where every item is tracked, assembled, and placed based on certain specifications. Detailed instructions for building components are generated and given to suppliers who then manufacture entire housing features, such as bathrooms, kitchens, and façade panels. From there, Assembly OSM uses its patented clipping mechanism to attach...

Dallas-Fort Worth International Airport has built four new gates composed of prefabricated modules

2021-09-28T14:59:00-04:00

In an unprecedented move, Dallas-Fort Worth International Airport (DFW) has constructed four new prefabricated modular gates for its Terminal C.

The gates replace a 72,000-square-foot extension comprising five gates built in 1988. According to CNN, they were initially intended to be used for only 10 to 15 years at the most, however, due to their central location and constant use, DFW chose not to replace them until now. Their demolition began in February and was finished in March, which is when work on the foundation and underground utilities for the new gates began. This effort was completed in August.

Check out the progress on the High C Gates at DFW!

The new, 5-gate concourse is being built in prefabricated modules, which will be transported to the terminal and put together later this summer. The construction method saves time and money, and is a first for a U.S. airport. pic.twitter.com/zd0P7Ra3AH
— DFW Airport (@DFWAirport) July 13, 2021

DFW worked with construction companies A...

White House announces measures to encourage US affordable housing delivery

2021-09-02T14:52:00-04:00

The Biden administration has announced a range of measures intended to address the US housing crisis. The measures, which do not require congressional approval, and are separate from measures included in the pending infrastructure bill, aim to built and preserve 100,000 affordable homes over the next three years.

Among the measures would be an expansion in the Capital Magnet Fund grant program to support Community Development Financial Institutions (CDFIs) seeking to build affordable homes. Both CDFIs and non-profit housing groups would be eligible for funding from the program, which this year made $383 million available for affordable housing production.

The measures would also seek to accelerate the development of manufactured housing, which are factory-built before transported to site. To aid this, the Biden administration will encourage state and local governments to reduce zoning and financing re...

MVRDV transforms former U.S. military barracks with 'catalog' of residential dwellings

2021-08-27T16:46:00-04:00

MVRDV has broken ground on their Traumhaus Funari project in Mannheim, Germany, transforming a former U.S. military barracks into a suburban residential neighborhood. The design for the new neighborhood is shaped by a series of options and rules, intended to promote diversity in the streetscape by allowing residents to make meaningful choices about their homes.

Image via MVRDV

Funari is one of five districts forming the redevelopment of Mannheim’s Franklin quarter, which once housed a U.S. military base. For the scheme’s development, MVRDV partnered with prefabricated housing developer Traumhaus, who specializes in housing created from mass-produced, standardized elements. For Funari, MVRDV adapted this standardized approach to create a catalog of housing typologies, allowing residents to choose from variations in materials, sizes, interior layouts, and connections to external space.

Image via MVRDV

“Traumhaus has already shown how a systematic construction approach can increase a...

10 featured firms specializing in BIM and modular construction are currently hiring on Archinect Jobs

2021-07-29T17:46:00-04:00

As the month of July comes to a close, architecture firms continue to seek design professionals to join their teams. Here at Archinect, we follow employment and professional practice trends to provide our audience with the latest news and resources. As a trusted source in the architecture community, our industry-leading job board has been connecting job seekers with firms for many years.

For this week's curated job roundup, we're highlighting a number of open positions that focus on modular construction/design and BIM. Following are 15 relevant job listings currently listed on the Archinect Job Board.

Modular Construction and Housing

Elysian Fields Apartments (Built) Location: Los Angeles, CA. Image courtesy of Warren Techentin Architecture (WTARCH)

Warren Techentin Architecture (WTARCH) seeks a Project Manager/Project Architect
Location: Los Angeles, CA

Description: Warren Techentin Architecture [WTARCH] is an award-winning, design-forward, multi-disciplinary firm located in the S...