The University of Sydney and Lendlease will work together on a collaborative research project to develop prefabricated multi-storey housing solutions, thanks to a $3 million grant from the Australian Government.
The five year industry-led project received funding from the Department of Industry, Innovation and Science’s Cooperative Research Centre Projects (CRC-P) program to develop and build prototype housing solutions that use high-tech, renewable materials and advanced manufacturing processes.
The demand for new multi-storey housing solutions from the industry is being driven by the need for affordable and diverse housing, as well as increasing urban density and residential market demands, says Kylie Rampa, Chief Executive Officer, Lendlease Property.
"We aim to bring to market an innovative housing system that is design-led, which will help address affordability issues, while developing advanced manufacturing technologies and techniques for future housing construction," she said.
According to Associate Professor Mathew Aitchison in the Faculty of Architecture, Design and Planning at the University of Sydney, the residential construction market has remained largely unchanged in the last 100 years, and the collaborative research project be a big opportunity to bring innovation to that market.
"Despite major advances in other manufacturing sectors, innovation in residential construction is lagging. This project seeks to drive efficiency and safety benefits and boost Australia’s competitiveness internationally, where we have seen a notable increase in advanced manufacturing in building over the past decade,” said Associate Professor Mathew Aitchison.
The researchers expect the project will create new products and industry processes, which will spawn new jobs, skills, technologies, and potentially export opportunities for prefabricated housing.
One major focus for the research team is developing multi-storey prototype houses that can be adapted for manufacture, and customised from project to project. At the same time, they will be working on market-ready housing with reduced risk and waste, and increased efficiency, safety, quality, sustainability and diversity.
[The Forte Building in Melbourne's Docklands area is Australia's first timber high-rise apartment building. Photo: University of Sydney]
Infrastructure will be a major topic of discussion at the Australian Engineering Conference 2016 in Brisbane on November 23-25 with sessions on smart cities and planning.