What is the buildoffsiteeu?

According to the Sustainable Construction Guide of the Basque Country, the industrialisation of construction can be defined as the “production process which, in a rational and automated way, uses materials, means of transport and mechanised techniques in series to obtain greater productivity and construction quality”.

Industrialised construction is the result of introducing new management techniques and applying Industry 4.0 technologies in the production process; manufacturing components in facilities outside their final location; reducing or eliminating waiting times and on-site stockpiling; and rationalising and mechanising on-site assembly operations”.

Imágenes del Palacio de Cristal de Londres

Historical milestones in industrialised construction

Industrialised construction is not a new concept. It emerged with the First Industrial Revolution, taking advantage of the emergence of new technologies.

– The first experiences appeared in the new settlements in the USA, Australia and Africa. At the end of the 18th century, the Ballon Frame system became very popular in the USA. It was based on the workshop manufacture of standardised wooden slats which were then assembled on the site using industrially manufactured nails. Dismantled prefabricated buildings were also widely shipped to European colonies in Africa and Australia. These were lightweight and stackable buildings. In Europe, cast iron began to be used for bridges and roofs.

– The great universal expositions served to showcase the progress of the industry. In 1851, the construction of the Crystal Palace for the Universal Exhibition in London, with a surface area of 70,000 m2 in just six months, gave impetus to the prefabrication of metal structures and glass enclosures. This system was extended to other types of buildings: shopping arcades, railway stations, etc.

In 1871

as a result of the great Chicago fire, alternatives to wood as a building material were sought, leading to the construction of the first skyscrapers with a laminated steel structure. The first patent for a prefabricated building using three-dimensional concrete modules in the form of a box is registered.

At the beginning of the 20th century

wooden kit houses became popular in the USA, which were shipped as a packaged package with all the components and accessories required for assembly. This model is the forerunner of the prefabricated houses sold today.

In the 20th century

the engineer Marie-Eugène Freyssinet brought the prestressed concrete technique into mass industrial use, and the technology took off worldwide in the 1940s

In 1920

the architects Walter Gropius and Adolf Meyer proposed a system of industrially produced standardised modules (Baukasten) to create houses with infinite possibilities of combination according to requirements. This failed project has served as an inspiration for future prototypes of industrialised construction.

In 1930

architect Buckminster Fuller designed the Dymaxion House (renamed Wichita House), a prefabricated house with a rainwater harvesting and energy harvesting system, produced using aviation technology.

In 1942

Gropius and Konrad Waschmann designed the Packaged Houses, based on dry assemblies of wooden panels joined together with flat bars, designed to expand or contract as needed.

After the Second World War, the need to rebuild devastated cities quickly arose and industrialised solutions were chosen. In Eastern Europe, the Plattenbau were developed, solutions of three-dimensional modules and prefabricated concrete panels that gave rise to entire neighbourhoods made up of repeated housing blocks.

The French designer and engineer Jean Prouvé has made an important contribution to the research and development of industrialised architecture in Europe. Among his projects was the design of 14 single-family dwellings in Meudon. The houses were designed with modular panels that allowed a high degree of customisation, according to the needs of orientation, lighting and ventilation. The main material is aluminium, and all the houses were different.

In 1972

The architect Kisho Kurokawa built the so-called Nagakin Capsule Tower in Tokyo to house workers who had to stay in the capital. This tower consists of a mega-structure made up of two towers or structural cores incorporating services and facilities, to which 140 prefabricated reinforced concrete modules or capsules are attached in 13 storeys. The modules have a useful life of 33 years and can be replaced. The capsules can be connected to create larger residences. It is a building designed for adaptability and recycling.