On the physical side, our primary objectives are:
To fully automate the manufacturing process, including formwork, reinforcement placement and sensor integration, thereby upskilling labour, reducing construction time, and eradicating worker-related safety risks.
To continuously prototype new manufacturing techniques for the fabrication of concrete elements, both in the lab and onsite, using embedded sensors to understand performance and to improve the design and manufacturing process.
Supporting these, we aim to:
Enhance the durability and resilience of infrastructure through the development of novel materials that are well suited to automated manufacturing techniques.
Develop an understanding of how whole life cost, design value, carbon intensity and productivity should be defined and measured, and to introduce such calculation into the procedures of computational design in an embedded and automated manner.
And as a result, the physical making will help us to:
Take a fresh look at the entire building design process and identify ways in which it might need to change to realise the full benefits of automated concrete construction.
Read more about Construction 2025 and Transforming Construction.