High Street Preston: The Quality Behind the Finished Build
Inside High Street Preston, we look at the decisions, processes and testing that helped build quality into the project from the outset.
There was a different energy at Crown yesterday.
On Thursday 22 October, developers, builders, manufacturers and policymakers filled the Crown Conference Centre in Melbourne for Prefab Council Australia’s National MMC Luncheon Forum. Many have been making the case for modern methods of construction (MMC) for years. This time, the people who write the rules and fund the programs were in the room too.
Each panel brought recommendations for a formal resolution to Federal Housing Minister the Hon Clare O’Neil MP. Our Joint CEO, Andrew Deveson, joined the Pipeline Solutions Panel.
The conversation ranged across regulation, finance, skills and affordability, and stayed practical throughout. PCA Executive Chairman Waco Tao opened by announcing a National MMC Hub with Swinburne University of Technology.
On the Regulatory Reform Panel, moderated by The Australian Financial Review’s Michael Bleby, “certify once, use often” became the phrase of the day. Adrian Piani, CEO of the Australian Building Codes Board, explained that the National Construction Code’s mandatory core is already performance-based, so modular can meet it.
The ABCB is finalising a voluntary scheme so a prefabricated design can be approved once and used again. The tone was less about whether modular will happen and more about how to make it work at scale.
The Minister reported “a really deep level of commitment” from every state and territory, and thanked those who’d been “making the case for modern methods of construction long before this became a fashionable thing”.
The Minister was clear on why it matters. Productivity across the economy has risen by almost half since the mid-1990s, while home building has gone backwards. Sweden builds up to 80 per cent of its homes using MMC. Australia’s best estimate is 3 to 5 per cent. Government is putting about $350 million behind closing that gap.
She named four things industry needs: a pipeline factories can bank on, one set of rules, finance that understands the model, and builders willing to try new methods. “You can’t build a factory to support just one project,” she said.
That first ask was the brief for the Pipeline Solutions Panel, moderated by Sarah Slattery, Director of Slattery. Homes Victoria CEO Simon Newport spoke for the customer. Andrew spoke for a builder that has already committed.
“Everybody you talk to is really excited about it, but then it’s like, who wants to be the first?” Our answer is to go first, and do it well enough that others follow.
On cost, he was clear that modular works best when it’s planned from the start. “It has to be designed as a modular project,” he said. Done well, it can now be faster and more cost-effective than conventional construction in our major cities. “It is not the answer to every question. It’s the answer to some questions.”
His ask for the resolution was simple: “I don’t think you get better at things by talking about it.” Government can help start the market by committing to buy a share of housing delivered through modular.
We’re a builder, and we chose to stay one. Through a joint venture with ICD Property and CIMC Modular Building Systems, we plan to import up to 10,000 modular units a year for student accommodation, hotels and affordable housing.
Our first project is a 161-unit student accommodation building in Clayton, with on-site construction due to start early next year. We estimate savings of up to 10 per cent in cost on some projects and up to 35 per cent in time on site. Our in-house teams make modular part of design and construction from day one.
Yesterday showed government, industry and finance starting to pull in the same direction. The next step is projects people can walk through.
If you’re one of the institutional investors or high-rise developers weighing up modular, talk to us before the design is locked in. Through early contractor involvement, our Head of Modular, Andrew Morrison, and his team can test whether your project suits modular.
To learn more, get in touch with our team today.
Listen to Kapitol Conversations – Modular Construction – Is Australia Ready? EP03.
