PrefabAUS Conference 2014

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We're back for the final day of the <a href="/tag/prefabaus-conference-2014">PrefabAUS Conference 2014</a>.

Today's schedule sees presentations on next generation manufacturing, a case study on medium-density planning in South Korea, lessons from the automotive sector and rounding out the conference will be a panel discussion on growing off-site construction in Australia and New Zealand.

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Lead image credit: <a href="http://www.unitisedbuilding.com/" target="_blank">unitisedbuilding.com</a>
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Alastair Taylor

PrefabAUS Conference - Day 2

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Today marks the first day of formal proceedings at the <a href="/tag/prefabaus-conference-2014">PrefabAUS Conference 2014</a>. Yesterday, myself and co-editor Mark Baljak along with 80 other delegates, were treated to a tour of four different sites around Melbourne and its periphery. They included the Hickory Group's factory, the Modscape display suite, Salesian College and the Library at the Dock.

The conference schedule is very busy and includes multiple speakers and different topics of discussion. From Project case studies including The Maloney Group's One9 development - <a href="https://www.urban.com.au/news/one9-hall-street-moonee-ponds-34-apartments-5-days" target="_blank">where a 10 level apartment building was assembled on site in five days</a> - to lessons from the automotive sector and a look at the economics of the off-site construction industry, the next two days are bound to be informative and thought-provoking.

From today (9am until 4pm) and <a href="https://www.urban.com.au/news/prefabaus-conference-day-2">tomorrow (9am until 3pm)</a>, we'll be covering the conference as it happens in the embedded live blog below.

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PrefabAUS Conference - Day 1

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The following is a media release which accompanied the launch of the <a href="http://meta.org.au" target="_blank">META</a> <a href="http://prefabaus.org.au" target="_blank">PrefabAUS</a> Hub at the <a href="/tag/prefabaus-conference-2014">PrefabAUS Conference 2014</a>.

Australian building firms face lagging behind global competitors, with prefabricated housing an untapped market for local manufacturers, accordingly to META Managing Director Zoran Angelkovski.

META, a collaborative network of engaged manufacturing businesses and researchers, together with PrefabAUS, will determine how Australia can transform its construction industry to a smarter, leaner manufacturing mind-set through the launch of META’s PrefabAUS Hub.

“A primary objective of the Hub is to identify how our local construction industry can transform and compete against imported products in terms of quality, value, and speed,” Mr Angelkovski said.

“The Hub participants will grow prefabricated housing through development of new architectural design thinking, innovative techniques and processes and work towards advanced manufacturing within the field.”

Prefabricated housing is manufactured off-site in advance, usually in simple sections that can easily be shipped and transported. The Australian construction industry creates more than $150b contribution to GDP (10%) of which the prefabricated housing sector is just $4.6b (3%). The sector is expected to grow at more than 5% per annum compared to the overall industry at 2.3% through to 2023.

Peter Newman, Professor of Sustainability at Curtin University and board member of Infrastructure Australia says the Australian construction industry is outdated in its design of new developments.

“The past 50 years of urban development in Australia has been based around building unsustainable car-dependent suburbs on the urban fringe. With Australia’s population growth expected to see a 60 per cent increase to 37.6 million people by 2050, the industry needs to look to more cost effective and well designed inner city developments at higher densities.

“Prefabricated housing is a next generation housing construction industry, a game changer in cost of housing, competitiveness, efficiency and productivity. Without leveraging this technology, we will see Australia going backwards as overseas firms meet the needs of our local market,” Professor Newman said.

Sarah Backhouse, CEO of prefabAUS, architect and Melbourne University researcher says there is strong potential for Australia to develop a new manufacturing base centred on 21st century construction innovation and quality.

“In Japan and across Europe, prefabricated housing is widely accepted as a quality alternative to traditional construction due to its speed of delivery, design options and energy efficient choices. This represents exciting opportunities for Australia to innovate as our prefabricated housing industry continues to grow and span not only individual houses but also medium and high density solutions while ensuring we remain globally competitive,” Ms Backhouse said.

Jan Gyrn, from leading Australian prefabrication developer Modscape, says there is huge potential for local manufacturers to adapt to this growth market while providing consumers with innovative designs and choice.

“Over the last decade, we have seen prefabricated housing transition from a temporary building idea to a sophisticated, design-led alternative to traditional construction.

“We have worked on exciting commercial and residential projects which are a far cry from the days of aesthetically boring prefab units and will challenge people’s conceptions of modular buildings.

Today we can leverage the latest technology and manufacturing methods to deliver projects such as Ponyfish Island Bar in Melbourne, which shows innovation and artistic style within a logistically complex location.

By using a modular base we can create almost any configuration of space at any size to suit individual styles, all the while delivering projects at less cost with minimal disturbance to the surrounding environment,” Mr Gyrn said.

Lead image credit: <a href="http://www.nbrsap.com.au/" target="_blank">NBRS + Partners</a>.
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META PrefabAus Hub launched

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PrefabAUS, the peak body for Australia's off-site construction industry, has announced the dates for its inaugural conference. To be held at Rydges Swanston Street on the 11th through to 13th of August, the 150 delegate event will feature an influential line-up of national and international speakers and cover all approaches to off-site construction, from commercial to residential and across all key infrastructure sectors including health and education.

Writing in a newsletter sent out to subscribers, PrefabAUS CEO Sarah Backhouse says "as the off-site construction sector begins to expand rapidly, this Conference is timed to bring together key representatives from all related areas for the first time; from architecture, engineering, manufacturing, material supply, property development and construction, universities, government agencies and client representatives".

List of speakers:

<ul>
<li>
<a href="http://www.findanexpert.unimelb.edu.au/display/person617608" target="_blank">Dr Masa Noguchi</a>, ZEMCH and The University of Melbourne</li>
	<li>
Steve Hayden, ACT Government</li>
	<li>
<a href="http://www.prefabnz.com/About/People/" target="_blank">Pamela Bell</a>, CEO of PrefabNZ</li>
	<li>
Associate Professor Haeyoon Yoo, Seongsil University, South Korea</li>
	<li>
<a href="http://www.architectureanddesign.com.au/comment/in-profile-tai-hollingsbee-from-ghd" target="_blank">Tai Hollingsbee</a>, Sustainability and Performative Design Group at GHD, Australia</li>
	<li>
<a href="http://constructionedge.com.au/wp-content/uploads/2013/03/bio.pdf" target="_blank">David Chandler</a>, Construction Edge</li>
	<li>
Damian Moloney, <a href="http://www.themoloneygroup.com/" target="_blank">The Moloney Group</a>
</li>
	<li>
<a href="https://humanities.curtin.edu.au/about/humstaff/research.cfm/P.Newman" target="_blank">Professor Peter Newman</a>, Curtin University</li>
	<li>
Mark Albert, <a href="http://www.mtmauto.com/history" target="_blank">MtM</a> and Linsey Siede, <a href="http://www.asea.net.au/" target="_blank">Automotive Supplier Excellence Australia</a>
</li>
	<li>more speakers will be confirmed in the coming weeks.</li>
</ul>
On the afternoon of Monday August 11th, optional factory tours and project visits will be offered. Tuesday August 12th the Conference gets underway in full swing from 9am to 5:30pm with a drinks and networking session from 6pm. At 7:30am on Wednesday 13th, the PrefabAUS Annual General Meeting will be held and open for members to attend and then the final session of the conference will be held from 9am to 3pm.

<a href="http://www.prefabaus.org.au/join-prefab/" target="_blank">PrefabAUS members</a> are offered a generously discounted rate to attend the conference with early bird rates set at $600 and from June 16th the full rate of $800 kicks in.

Non-member rates start at $1,400 and from June 16th the full rate of $1,600 applies.

Interested parties who would like to participate in the conference are invited to contact PrefabAUS CEO Sarah Backhouse: <a href="mailto:sarah@prefabaus.org.au">sarah@prefabaus.org.au</a>.

PrefabAUS is a member of the Urban.com.au Industry Hub.
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PrefabAUS Conference 2014

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