Archinect - News

Construction tech start-up sends AI-powered "micro-factories" to the US to build affordable housing

2024-10-04T17:57:00-04:00

British construction tech start-up Automated Architecture (AUAR) is sending two of its pop-up, robotic micro-factories to the U.S. for the first time in a move to bring automated and affordable house building to North America.

Founded in 2019, AUAR functions by licensing its technology to builders and contractors to build low-energy homes at the price of normal homes, at scale.

Related on Archinect: Where Are All The Affordable Housing Startups?. Image credit: Katerra

The micro-factories will be deployed by real estate development and construction firm Rival Holdings, which aims to address the ongoing housing crisis by building thousands of sustainable, affordable, and high-quality homes across the Midwest. The partnership between Rival Holdings and AUAR was announced in March.

“We are really excited to partner with Rival Holdings to bring our cutting-edge Robotic Micro-factories to the United States,” said Co-Founder and CEO of AUAR, Mollie Claypool. “This partnership is our first ...

Why is technological progress still lagging in the building trade?

2024-05-27T11:00:00-04:00

Overall, across Europe and the US, stuff is still built in a pretty manual fashion - not very different to the way it would have been built 100 years ago [...] Construction is a bit of a digital laggard compared with many other industries. It's been slow to adopt digital in the widest sense

Consultant Sam O’Gorman and other experts speak to the BBC about the confounding gap between digital technology and the analog process for delivering residential architecture. Interesting projects mentioned are the University of Maine Advanced Structures and Composites Center’s attempts to develop the world’s largest 3D printer and the UK firm Automated Architecture (or AUAR)’s plan to create a network of ‘micro-factories’ capable of producing pre-assembled six-story timber design for just £250,000 ($320,000 USD) using robots.

Skylab Architecture teams up with Steel Hut to design modern ready-to-build and climate resistant dwellings

2024-03-02T17:29:00-05:00

Portland-based interdisciplinary design studio Skylab Architecture has announced its partnership with woman-owned kit home manufacturer Steel Hut to design forward-thinking, affordable dwellings that boast increased fire resistance and durability for harsh climates.

The prefabricated homes are entirely made of recycled and recyclable steel. They can be used in a variety of ways, such as accessory dwelling units (ADU) and remote living spaces. The interior of the homes are characterized as ultra-modern and warm. They have an impressive visual scale relative to their size. In addition, the houses provide indoor-outdoor connections through large windows.

Steel Hut’s "Jackrabbit Loft" model.

“It’s an incredible opportunity to work with Steel Hut to address the many challenges people face during the design and construction process. And being able to support people’s desire to live in nature is too important to miss,” said Susan Barnes, Principal at Skylab. “These home designs merge state...

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...

Hapi Homes donates 10 “foldable” residential structures in Odesa

2023-04-07T11:33:00-04:00

A new gift facilitated by the Ukrainian Red Cross has installed 10 new “foldable” modular home designs from Hapi Homes, LLC. to the beleaguered historic port city of Odesa.

The gift is meant to house local families that have been displaced as a result of the ongoing conflict. The two-bedroom units come fully furnished and are set to be delivered later in the month in an effort to alleviate the burden on local workers – all doctors, nurses, teachers, and engineers, respectively.

The company says: “The prefabricated homes are prebuilt and folded by Hapi Homes and assembled on-site. Each home is “plug-and-play,” and will be assembled in less than 8 hours. The homes will be located on a 2.4-acre site that the city hopes will ultimately house more than 70 homes."

Image courtesy Hapi Homes LLC.

Each design offers a total of 420 square feet of space for the workers’ families and includes a kitchenette, private bathroom, dining, and living room, with double-layered tempered glass windows, ...

Liv-Connected launches a modular approach to home design and a solution to the growing housing shortage

2022-08-22T16:09:00-04:00

New York startup Liv-Connected has released a modular approach to housing that tackles the homebuilding market's material and skilled labor shortages and limited housing inventory.

Cofounded by architects Jordan Rogove, Wayne Norbeck, Joe Wheeler, and healthcare professional Dr. Herb Rogove in 2019 (Jordan Rogove and Wayne Norbeck are also cofounders of NYC-based architecture firm DXA Studio), the endeavor aimed to seek a solution to disaster-relief housing that embodied a sense of permanence and resulted in an affordable, sustainable, and high-quality, health-centered solution to homebuilding.

Image courtesy of Liv-Connected.

The emergence of Liv-Connected reflects the commitment to homeowners' health and wellness and their team of architects and healthcare providers. "We started with the assumption that disaster housing could be so thoughtful that it might become permanent," shared Norbeck during a conversation with Forbes' Jennifer Castenson. "We were interested in the possibil...

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 ...

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...

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...

Six modules and an undulating roof come together for new residence by Young Projects

2021-06-23T18:29:00-04:00

New York-based architecture practice Young Projects has completed a 3,500-square-foot modular home located on a verdant, two-acre lot in Bridgehampton, New York.

Called Six Square House, the residence is made up of six 24’ by 24’ gabled modules that are arranged to align roof ridges and create continuity between the modules. In contrast, each module’s roof eaves flow upward and downward, resulting in a variety of undulating surfaces and perspectives across the exterior and interior of the home. The building is clad in deep gray, slatted Accoya wood, which works to highlight the roof’s dynamic edges and arcs. Its exterior wood cladding and wood roof cladding was designed and manufactured by reSAWN TIMBER co.

Six Square House sits adjacent to a historic 1850 farmhouse. The home is the nucleus of the property, surrounded by a new pool house, gunite pool, and ipe deck. The old farmhouse has become the guest home. Six Square House was designed as a contemporary counterpart to the farmho...

10-story apartment building in Changsha, China erected in 28 hours

2021-06-22T20:26:00-04:00

Chinese manufacturing company Broad Group has constructed a 10-story apartment building in just over a day.

Called the Living Building, the structure is located in the company’s headquarters location of Changsha, China. A timelapse released by Broad Group shows the apartment block being erected in just 28 hours and 45 minutes with the help of three cranes and a large team of workers.

Video via Broad Group on YouTube.

Broad Group specializes in manufacturing a range of air conditioning, heating, and prefabricated structural units. As stated in the project’s publicity video, the company has been developing factory-made steel buildings since 2009. Additionally, Broad Group claims that this is the world’s shortest construction period.

The Living Building was constructed using modular units that were made off-site in a factory. It was designed to be easy to transport and install. The structure is made of pure stainless steel, with each module sized at forty feet long, eight feet wide,...

The Architects Collective and Tavi Design Group have designed a six-story housing project that was assembled in six days

2020-07-24T12:29:00-04:00

Housing developer Ush has completed the assembly of a modular 80-unit housing project designed by The Architects Collective with landscape design by Tavi Design Group. in Los Angeles. The modular units came in complete with appliances, finishes, and fixtures. The six-story structure was assembled in just six days.

"When we chose to join the vibrant community of Westlake, we knew we would need to develop an apartment community that lived up to the neighborhood’s standards," said Drew Orenstein, CEO of Ush in a statement. “Whether the resident is a young professional in need of a studio for life on the go or a young family desiring a central Los Angeles neighborhood, 740 Alvarado was designed to meet their needs."

Plant Prefab installs four-unit housing complex in three days

2020-07-16T13:12:00-04:00

Modular home builder Plant Prefab has announced that it completed installation of a 11,054-square-foot, four-unit townhome development in Los Gatos, California in July in just three days.

According to Plant Prefab, The townhomes range in size from 2,650 to 2,902 square feet, and each include three bedrooms and four bathrooms. Designed with modern styling and underground parking, the development is also topped with solar panels and wood and stone finishes.

Rendering of the Los Gatos project.

In a press release announcing the project, project developer Jordan Castillo explains, “Building with Plant Prefab allowed us to significantly reduce disruption to the neighborhood. Building offsite also meant that we could work on the site and structure simultaneously. This was particularly beneficial in the wake of the coronavirus pandemic.”

Another installation shot.

The homes were constructed in Plant Prefab's Rialto, California factory and designed by Metro Architects.

Plant Prefab also ma...

Swiss architects construct a cylindrical modular structure for use as student housing

2020-06-05T18:16:00-04:00

Located on the outskirts of the University of Lausanne in Chavannes-près-Renens, Switzerland, the Vortex will house nearly 1,000 students and academic guests by the end of this summer. Designed by Swiss-based IttenBrechbühl, the building welcomed 1,800 athletes taking part in the Youth Olympic Games at Lausanne earlier this year.

The circular form of the architecture creates a vast inner courtyard that is more representative of a park or village square. A number of entrances provide access to this courtyard from the outside, creating an immediate connection to the outer countryside.

Each floor was constructed with modular "boxes," and are connected by a spiral ramp that moves throughout the building. The construction was completed quickly due to the prefabricated nature of the modular units. Each of the floors, except the ground floor, is identical in layout.

The result, is a monolithic mass built economically, sustainably, and timely, and one that will serve as a home for the stude...

Katerra stumbles as it expands overseas

2019-12-26T16:00:00-05:00

Katerra has failed to complete roughly a dozen projects and could only name one that was delivered on time. All the while, logistical and technology-based issues have chipped away at the company’s image as a revolutionary tech startup. Some clients have ended their relationship with the firm. Other clients, however, are tied to Katerra’s executives, and have drummed up business for the company—a similar arrangement used by WeWork executives, which became a concern for some investors

The Real Deal takes an investigative look at some of the recent business dealings and project announcements from Katerra. The vertically integrated construction and modular building components start-up is facing renewed media and financial scrutiny following the recently announced closure of its first fabrication plant in Phoenix, Arizona. Katerra recently opened a new 270,000-square-foot CLT factory in Spokane, Washington.

The company also recently expanded its project offerings in Saudi Arabia and India, the former of which is the biggest backer of Japanese technology start-up investor Softbank’s Vision Fund, a financial vehicle that backed WeWork, Compass, and Uber, three highly valued ventures that all stumbled in 2019.

L.A. architects are embracing modular multi-family housing

2019-11-18T14:05:00-05:00

Across Los Angeles, architects and developers are embracing factory-built multi-family housing construction across a variety of projects. A selection of recently proposed and currently under construction efforts highlight the fact that while previously limited mostly to single-family projects, modular construction is increasingly being used for larger projects.

In Hollywood, for example, architecture firm Steinberg Hart and developer R.W. Selby & Co. have unveiled plans for a new 202-unit apartment complex that is built using prefabricated modular units.

The development is marked by balcony modules that overlook street-level retail. Image courtesy of Steinberg Hart.

The project, set to be located on a long, narrow site, will feature 14,200 square feet of ground floor retail spaces as well as apartment units marked by projecting covered balconies arranged to express the project's modular construction systems. Urbanize.LA reports that the project will bring a mix of one- and two- be...

Brooks + Scarpa and Plant Prefab debut adaptable prefab apartment model

2019-10-05T09:00:00-04:00

Los Angeles-based architects Brooks + Scarpa and factory home builder Plant Prefab have partnered on a new line of adaptable apartment modules that aim to provide streamlined responses for creating much-needed high-density in Los Angeles.

View of unit types for the Blue Jay model. Image courtesy of Plant Prefab.

The kit-of-parts-style Nest LivingHome toolkit is a research-led design paradigm crafted to fit into Los Angeles's average residential parcels. Dimensions for the prototypes correspond to the buildable areas of L.A.'s standard-sized 50-foot-by-150-foot residential lots, for example. Meanwhile, the architects have designed a series of potential unit plans that vary between rapid-rehousing, single-room occupancy (SRO), and conventional multi-family configurations.

The team's Blue Jay configuration, for example, presents a spare 11-foot, 4-inch-wide room that's 28-feet-deep and can be laid out as a one-bedroom unit or in various multi-bed shelter designs. The Dove line groups ...

Plant Prefab pledges to achieve carbon neutrality by 2028

2019-09-27T18:00:00-04:00

Plant Prefab, a building manufacturing backed by Amazon, has announced a plan to achieve "net carbon neutral" operations by the year 2028.

According to a Medium post announcing the move, since 2006, the company has steadily worked to increase its "comprehensive and continuous effort to employ and improve materials and processes that are energy, water, and materially resource-efficient and that are safe for humans and the environment."

The plan comes as investor Amazon issues its own carbon neutrality pledge with the aim of achieving "net zero carbon by 2040 and 100% renewable energy by 2030," according to a press release.

The company's mostly-single-family home product lines already make use of an array of sustainable practices. Image courtesy of Plant Prefab.

Describing Plant Prefab's ambitions, founder and CEO Steve Glenn writes, “Our promise is a commitment to being carbon neutral by 2028, which we’ll achieve by our continued efforts to implement industry-leading sustainabilit...

Are there more pros than cons to modular construction?

2019-07-23T09:43:00-04:00

“Timing in the apartment world is everything [...] The time of year we release a building and when we start putting tenants in it is critical for a project’s success.”

Behind every successful construction project lies a team of people working to complete a project deadline. However, with automation and building manufacturing on the rise, many question how these methods of construction will change the way buildings are designed and built in the future. Will these new methods become commonplace?

A recent article in Multi Family Executive talks about modular development and the advantages of modular construction. Using the multifamily development group Beverly Crossing as an example, writer Joe Bousquin showcases the company's positive experience with this building method with their 126-unit Canvas project in Beverly, Massachusetts.

"Modular buildings are constructed off site under controlled plant conditions, then shipped to the site for assembly, reducing the construction schedule." Courtesy of MFE. Image © Prefab Logic

Is modular construction the key to project turnover, and is it the answer? Curtis Fletcher, president and CEO of Prefab Logic, shar...

Seattle architecture professionals identify 5 residential trends

2018-09-13T15:11:00-04:00

As with every single other thing about Seattle, there’ve been some developments in residential design since 2008 [...] Here are five opportunities, in the form of developments in residential architecture over the past 10 years as identified — and expressed — by some plugged-in visionaries.

The Seattle Times tracked 5 developments in residential design addressing housing issues in the city. For each trend they spoke with an architecture professional working in the field. Below are Seattle's identified trends and some of the visionaries addressing them:

1. Multifamily Housing Moves Thoughtfully into Single-Family Neighborhood
-Mary Johnston of Johnston Architects
The Potential of the Detached Accessory Dwelling Unit
-Robert Hutchinson of Robert Hutchison Architecture
Modern Modular Housing
-Rick Mohler of Mohler + Ghillino Architects
High-End Design in High-Rise Apartments
-Olson Kundig Architects and Ankrom Moisan Architecture
Greener is the New Green
-Leah Missik of Built Green

Yale University teams with UN Environment to unveil new eco-housing module

2018-07-23T16:19:00-04:00

Representing more than a third of global greenhouse gas emissions, and using up 40% of the planet's total resources, the housing sector is going to have to play a key role in effective climate policy. By building green, we can lessen the impact our buildings have on contributing to climate change while also building resilience into our homes and communities.

Seeking new solutions, the United Nations Environment Programme and UN Habitat recently teamed up with the Yale Center for Ecosystems in Architecture to explore how sustainable design can limit the overuse of natural resources and climate change while also providing decent, affordable housing. “We clearly need more housing," said Erik Solheim, head of UN Environment. "But the key thing is that we also need smarter housing” he added.

Courtesy of UN Environment.

As tends to be the case these days, the result of their collaboration is a 22-square-meter "tiny house." Efficient and multi-functional, the eco-housing module is fully pow...

Cube Haus commissions top architects to design modular, affordable homes

2018-05-08T15:57:00-04:00

What if buying a house were more like buying a car? Could the process of choosing between a Ford, Volkswagen or Nissan ever translate into picking between an Adjaye, Rogers or Assemble? Beyond the dream of ever being able to buy a house, the prospect of commissioning an architect-designed home is an impossibly remote prospect for most of us, a luxury confined to the glossy pages of Sunday supplements and Grand Designs.

The founders of Cube Haus have commissioned well known architects such as Adjaye Associates, Skene Catling de la Peña, and Carl Turner Architects to design modular homes at affordable prices. Targeting infill and backland sites in the London area, Cube Haus is looking to fill a small housing niche with well-crafted, off-plan new properties.

Off-site production and lower margins allow the company to produce houses 10%-15% cheaper than equivalent properties in a given area. The trick is to come up with modular designs that can properly adapt to different, awkward sites. Cube Haus aims to create a portfolio of building types that can be scaled up for larger number unit sites—creating affordable housing designed by some of the top names in architecture.

Gimme (customizable) shelter: pop-up modular homeless housing project tailor-made for each community

2017-03-23T12:44:00-04:00

Assembled from containers placed within a scaffolding net, WE Architecture's Jagtevj 69 aims to create alluring public space while simultaneously providing temporary housing for the homeless.

The proposal stresses that it's a temporary solution; by creating a variety of different spaces for different activities, the project ultimately provides an opportunity for social networking for both the community and the homeless population in "urban gardens and semi-public activities." These activity-specific spaces, which include workshops, yoga studios, and offices, form each modular unit, making it easy to swap out or add different functions as needed.

Currently envisioned for a site in Copenhagen, the proposal is designed to be disassembled and then reassembled in different locations, making it a kind of traveling social aid that is also custom tailored to the needs of its particular community.

Surveying the failure of utopian ideals in Tokyo's Nakagin Capsule Tower

2016-11-01T12:32:00-04:00

Despite its potential for easy refurbishment and adaptability, the Nakagin Capsule Tower has not exactly fulfilled the hoped-for mission of its designers. A team of documentary filmmakers recently attempted to stay in the tower, only to find the majority of its units without plumbing or much in the way of livable amenities. As the narrator laments, "Maybe nowhere else is the gap between the utopian 1960s and 70s dream of the future and the reality of life in the 21st century as acutely felt as right here." Check out the full, thoughtful video here:

To solve a housing crisis, invest more in modular construction

2016-07-19T13:15:00-04:00

Researchers from the University of British Columbia have suggested that modular construction techniques are key to assuaging cities' housing shortages.

Associate engineering professor Kasun Hewage at UBC, along with PhD candidate Mohammad Kamali, conducted "the first comprehensive review of conventional and modular construction research of its kind," and found that increased factory-produced housing should make it easier for prospective renters and buyers to find a place. It would help cities provide more options that can be built "cheaper, faster and results in fewer workplace injuries," according to Hewage. Their findings were recently published in the journal Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews.

Modular construction is obviously not a new method, but has a bit of a negative rep according to the researchers—the public tends to associate the method with lower-quality structures, and communities like trailer parks. But the study, which reviewed construction data between 2000 and ...