Fabrication Gap

Two-day symposium and panel discussions on how we can industrialize the construction industry, bringing together architects, engineers, clients, and consultants.

We know that the construction industry has had virtually no growth in productivity in decades. The sector is responsible for over 15% of carbon emissions and over 50% of all landfill waste, while we have been struggling to build faster, leaner, and better. Modular construction has largely been unsuccessful. For decades, it has been seen as the best way to industrialize the construction industry, however, apart from just a few examples, its impact has been negligible, and the desired transformation of our industry has not taken place.

We need a rethink.

We need to involve the construction supply chain, which has developed a deep level of industrial production over time, and feed their solutions into the design at a much earlier point in the process. As a part of that approach, we must solve the interfaces between the different trades and systems. In turn, we must completely rethink how a kit of parts is assembled.

At the symposium, we will present and discuss with a broad range of experts an approach that brings all these considerations together. It will integrate supply-chain solutions while also allowing the construction industry to innovate. It will create standards focusing on interoperability and interface solutions while remaining open-source. It will use technology to facilitate the integration of different system solutions.

Closing the fabrication gap will allow a reduction in construction times while also increasing the quality of what we are building. In designing for an integrated, industrialized construction process, we will allow for individual architectural expression rather than creating the need for generic standardization.