Automation in construction: an off-site case study of the FASTtruss system with DES

Project management is often focused on physical scope change and can be blind to shifts in approach and people dynamics which can have profound impacts..

The reason why it seems so hard to take choices which will protect us in the longer term is that we believe that to do so will lessen or lives, our livelihoods, our success in the short term.We feel we have strived hard to get what we have, companies and investors have got used to the revenues generated, we have all benefitted from the growth of technology and cheap energy and the offer on the table seems to involve us giving these things up; the ‘OR’ feels oppressive.. What flooded into my mind then were the many examples, some experienced personally and some simply read about, that have demonstrated that we can have our cake AND eat it.

May be its not exactly the same cake, but just as, or even more delicious.The idea of Exquisite Design captures, exactly, this concept.There are solutions and choices out there that can protect and repair and restore the ecosystem; and deliver fantastic experiences and deliver financial returns.

There are ‘ANDs’ the job of everybody is to find them..The design to value approach, at its heart, is based upon the belief that there are many, many ‘ands’.

The range of value drivers from financial, aesthetic, socio-environmental and processual demonstrate the breadth of belief and aspiration.

Take the example of the Ministry of Justice prison programme (a case study in our.We’re already seeing evidence that it’s possible to build a superstructure with half the number of people in half the time, representing a four-fold increase in productivity, as well as a 25% reduction in overall material and a 20% reduction in embodied carbon.

And there are other benefits, such as the ability to minimise tolerances.In our work with Crossrail we designed to zero tolerance with very good success.

This unlocks vast potential in terms of manufacturing a better quality of building - structures which are more air- and weather-tight, energy efficient and overall better performing.Further, standardisation allows us to do a better job of integrating our mechanical and electrical engineering systems, which then has the knock-on effect of reducing the overall volume of a building by 30-40%.