If we wanted to not only preserve the value identified in an innovative concept and technology but to enhance it, we needed to change the way we approach basic/scheme and detailed design..

Terms lose their meaning, or are used to mean different things by different people, Marks says.These days we use terms like ‘industrialised construction’ to refer to the overarching DfMA principle being used throughout the built environment.

Marks has embraced industrialised construction as a term, however, but she acknowledges that some industry professionals, working in areas that aren’t directly related to construction, don’t always feel represented by it.. There’s also the term ‘Modern Methods of Construction’ (MMC), which Marks says she used to use but doesn’t anymore.These days she finds the meaning too ambiguous.In 2005, she bought a 76-year-old company that built steel and concrete volumetric modular, as well as some assemblies.

They worked on a huge variety of projects: telecommunications, data centres, schools, hospitals, generator enclosures, and embassies for the government.Marks notes that people tend to think standardised design is something new, but it isn’t.

It’s just an idea that’s coming back, growing in scale, and becoming more mainstream.. Another issue we have in the construction industry, she explains, is that when we talk about this type of industrialised construction work, we tend to focus on the projects we consider to be the sexy, quirky ones.

We talk about the asterisk, which will never be done again..efficiency: a predicted 9.5% reduction in capital cost, 13% reduction in programme, 40% reduction in steel used and 50% reduction in site operatives for superstructure and facade.

sustainability: a forecast 19.4% reduction in embodied carbon per square metre, a 36.4% carbon reduction in the substructure and 20.2% in the superstructure and façade..The Platform approach has been adopted by the Government and is the focus of the Construction Innovation Hub..

The scale and ambition of Sumner Street will be a catalyst for change and a major step forward in proving the new business and financial metrics, whole life performance, and supply chain adoption needed – and deliverable – to accelerate the transformation of the construction sector.. To read more about the principles and benefits of P-DfMA,.download our e-book hereHow we are redefining the process of design - and potentially transforming the sector - using automation.