"Rome wasn't built in a day", but in the ever so progressing world, being built not in a literal day, but within ten to thirty days, it's quite a real possibility.
Prefabrication is the modern-day trick for making a building in a blink of an eye. This construction approach is about assembling structural components at a manufacturing yard, transporting them to the site, and adding it to the puzzle. This technique benefits in cost-cutting and time-saving.
Prefabrication kick starts the construction process and promotes modular building. These building projects can save up to Fifty per cent of the time that of traditional construction, from conception to completion. It covets the return investment faster.
In many countries, modular construction is not an acquired method. The slow but consistent growth in Modular construction has a genuine broad-scale benefit.
Modular buildings are faster because of effective timely planning, eliminating the weather constraints at the site, removing subcontractor scheduling delays and quicker simultaneous fabrication of various elements. It allows companies to take on multiple projects and room for growth without limiting their focus and resources all on a single project.
The following list elaborates on a few of these miracle-like fast constructed projects around the world.
Mini sky city, Changsha, China
The mini sky city in Hunan province, capital of Changsha, was built up from the ground by Broad Sustainable Building, a prefab construction company, using a modular system by assembling three floors in a day. The skyscraper touched the clouds with 57 floors in a record time of 19 days. The project is spread over 180,000 square metres with a mixed-use function; stands as an example for using less material and significantly reducing air pollution.
Mini Sky city houses within 19 atriums, 800 dwelling units and office area apt for Four thousand people. The construction was considerate about its structural safety and can withstand high magnitude earthquakes. The prior fabrication of building components started four to five months before construction at the site.
T30 hotel tower and ark hotel, china
On 1st January 2012, Broad sustainable buildings Company swept the world with wonder. A time-lapse video was uploaded on youtube highlighting a glimpse into the future, a Thirty storey hotel built in Three sixty hours, that is, fifteen days.
The skyscraper focused on providing a quality experience. The tower can withstand a high magnitude earthquake of nine on the Richters scale. The building also embraces sustainability in its embodiment, saves twenty per cent of the energy from a traditional hotel and twenty times cleaner air. Along with being a prefabrication construction, the project is free of toxins and recycled material.
Instacon, Mohali
A Mohali infrastructure company, Synergy Thrislington, changed the ways of Indian construction. The company registered into the Limca Book of Records for a ten storey commercial project construction within 48 hours. That's quite a sprint.
The instant construction gave its name 'Instacon'. It was completed on 1st December 2012, at Mohali in Punjab. To make this wonder come to life, three cranes and more than Two hundred skilled technicians and workers came together.
Instacon is a building solution featuring ultra-fast modular construction, where it is fabricated in a highly controlled factory environment and shipped to the site for installation. By using a closed setting for manufacturing the elements, it increased worker efficiencies and the economic scale.
Heijmans one, 1-day house
A dutch company, Heijmans, made a successful attempt to kill birds with one stone- the shortage of housing affecting the youth in large cities and the desolate urban wasteland. The Prefab units are designed to house the educated millennials in the age bracket of 25 to 35, who don't earn enough to get suitable housing on rent. A 1-day house solves the problem of the growing economic crunch and needs for an urban lifestyle.
Each dwelling unit contains a living room, dining space, bathroom, kitchen and bedroom. The loft house is designed for one person or a couple at max. Every unit is prefabricated, transported at the site and installed in a day. These units for the electric demands have solar panels to harness the energy.
Fastest house built, Shelby County
Shelby county habitat for humanity on 17 December 2002 broke the then world record for the fastest house ever built, that is, in 3 hours, 26 minutes and 34 seconds.
The house of 12,000 square feet, which included three bedrooms, two bathrooms were completed with electricity and plumbing.
Final Thoughts
With the consistently increasing popularity of prefabricated construction, people will continuously choose it for its high quality, quick, cost-saving and eco-friendly construction approach. This technique has the added advantage of giving quick returns, thus making for a good investment, benefiting both businesses and customers. Hence, Prefabrication is the future which the world is only getting ready to embrace.
