PREFABRICATION

PREFABRICATION

A construction industry term used to describe

a building or structural components that are
manufactured in industrialized/factory
conditions and then transported to
construction sites to be assembled into a
building, and civil engineering works

Offsite locations can be considered as

equivalent to an industrialized manufacturing
facility, where things are built in controlled
plant conditions

Construction is done as per the same design,

and specifications, and using the same
materials as in the traditional onsite
construction approach

Offsite fabricated buildings or components

are then transported to the construction site
and then erected in place using cranes

HISTORICAL BACKGROUND

Prefabrication or Modular construction

may sound like a new term to many,
but this practice of construction has
been used for a long time

Rome in AD-43

the Romans used prefabricated

building elements to build their
forts quickly and efficiently

the Britishers also transported simple

prefabricated houses by ships to their
new settlements in the colonies to
provide comfortable European Style
living to its officers in these colonies

HISTORICAL BACKGROUND

Prefabrication method also helped address British and European

housing shortages during Post World War I era
Again during the Post Second World War era, prefabrication
came to rescue, as it alleviated the shortage of skilled labor in
the midst of the population outburst due to the baby boom

APPLICATIONS OF PREFABRICATION

Prefabricated buildings are used for

sites which are not suitable for
normal construction method, and
also when normal construction
materials are not easily available, or
when there is difficulties to provide
enough workers.

Prefabrication is usually applied in

structures which are used
repeatedly and can be standardized
such as; mass housing, sheds, bus
stands, security cabins, site offices,
and road bridges.

AIMS
REDUCED LABOR COSTSFor example, rather than paying a team of
framers to travel to a job site, cut lumber, nail
it into place and clean up, framing panels can
be produced at a factory by people who do one
job and do it well, in a facility that lets them
work at maximum efficiency.

REDUCED MATERIAL COSTS

Again, off-site fabrication benefits from
specialization and economies of scale. A
company that manufactures certain products
in large quantities can negotiate better prices
from its own suppliers, and competition forces
companies making similar components to pass
these savings along to the customer.

HIGHER QUALITY MATERIALS

Components produced off-site can often be
manufactured to tighter specifications and
using better raw materials than the same
components built on-site.

General materials used in prefab construction

Concrete
Steel
Treated wood
Aluminum
Cellular concrete
Light weight concrete elements
Ceramic products, etc

Site-assembled systems

All components, including

the frame, are
manufactured at the factory
and transported to the
building site in pieces.
All assembly takes place at
the building site.

Volumetric Systems
Volumetric or modular
construction units could be
manufactured from 2D wall
panels and floor cassettes, and
they are assembled into loadbearing boxes or 3d sections
which are fitted out and
transported to the construction
site. The primary disadvantage
of this system is
transportation constraints
that limit the width and height
of the unit.

Factoryassembled
systems

All building elements are

manufactured,
assembled and finished
at the factory.
Once on the building site,
the building is installed
on the foundation and
hooked up to utilities.

Transportation of prefab units

Prefab buildings are commonly shipped

by trucks or railways, but sometimes
ships are used for delivering prefab
homes.

Studies have shown that shipping

modules becomes cost prohibitive when
they must travel more than 150 to 200
miles from factory to site.

The industry generally recognizes 125

miles as the maximum practical
distance modules should need to travel
from factory

ADVANTAGES OF PREFABRICATED BUILDINGS

Prefabricated components speed up construction time, resulting in lower

labor costs.

Prefabrication allows for year-round construction, work is not affected by

weather delays (related to excessive cold, heat, rain, snow, etc.).

The mechanization used in prefabricated construction ensures precise

conformity to building code standards and greater quality assurance.

There are less wasted materials than in site-built construction.

Worker safety and comfort level are higher than in site-built construction.
Computerization of the production process permits a high degree of
customization, at an affordable cost.
Quality control and factory sealing and design can ensure high energy
efficiency.

DISADVANTAGES OF PREFABRICATED BUILDINGS

Increased production volume is required to ensure affordability through

prefabrication.

Prefabricated buildings typically depreciates more quickly than traditional

site-built housing. Because of its shorter economic life.

Transportation problem.
Local jobs are lost.
Required heavy duty cranes and precision measurement

Precast Concrete Beams and Girders

Provide support for slabs.
The projecting reinforcing bars will bond with
concrete cast on site.
Right: Inverted tee beams supported by precast
columns.

CONCRETE
Precast Concrete Slabs
Used for floor and roof decks.
Deeper elements (toward the right below) span further than those
that are shallower (toward the left).
Right: Hollow core slabs.

Precast Concrete Columns and

Wall Panels
Provide support for beam and slab

elements.
Since these elements carry mainly axial
loads with little bending force, they may
be conventionally reinforced without
prestressing.
Or, long, slender multistory elements
may be prestressed to provide resistance
to bending forces during handling and
erection (columns at right).

Precast concrete wall panels may be solid

(right), hollow, or sandwiched (with an
insulating core).
Wall panels can be ribbed, to increase their
vertical span capacity while minimizing
weight, or formed into other special shapes
(below).

Other Precast Concrete Elements

Precast concrete stairs (below)

Uniquely shaped structural elements for
a sports stadium (right).

STEEL STRUCTURE

The steel frame is inside the

wall, the structure is connected
by bolts and the walls are fixed
with rivets. The steel structure
parts and panels are light and
easy to pack and transport. The
prefab house can be brokendown and reassembled couple
of times.

MainAdvantages
Our one/ two/three floors steel home are custom designed
The houses are easy to construct and save on time and labor
They are fireproof and insulated against heat and cold
The steel home has a useable lifespan of more than 25 years
Flexibility of fixing doors, windows and interior partitions
Beautiful appearance, different colors for the walls and roof.
Cost saving and convenient to transport
Long term service life

SHIPPING CONTAINER

WOODEN STRUCTURE
They can be readied in as less as 7 days whereas a

concrete structure takes a minimum of 1 year.

Log houses do not require tons of waterin
construction whereas concrete consumes hundreds
of litres of water approximately, and water involves
cost which is both monetary and social.
They are also considered energy efficient as they
cool down sooner comparatively and remain cool for
longer time and hence do not consume electricity to
the same extent as concrete structures.

OTHER ADVANTAGES
Architectural Flexibility
Durability - As durable as any concrete structure
Time Saving and Energy Efficient
Can be dismantled, relocated and reused
Increased Thermal Performance and Better Insulation
Easy to Install Mechanical and Electrical Services
Lower Carbon Footprint
12 times more insulating than concrete

Case study

Nakagin Capsule Tower

LOCATION
GINZA 8-CHOME , CHUO-KU, TOKYO ,JAPAN
BUILDING STATISTICS
SITE AREA: 442sqm
BUILDING AREA: 430sqm
TOTAL FLOOR AREA : 3091sqm
STRUCTURE DETAILS
STRUCTURE STEEL FRAME PARTLY ENCASED IN CONCRETE
MAX OF 140 CAPSULE UNITS (PREFABRICATED)
11-13 STORIES INCLUDING 1 BASEMENT
MATERIAL DETAILS
CAPSULE EXTERIOR :STEEL WITH SPRAYED PAINT FINISH
CAPSULE INTERIOR: STEEL CAPSULE WITH CLOTH CEILING
AND FLOOR CARPET
TOWER: CORTEN STRUCTURAL STEEL FRAM
LOWER LEVELS: FAIR-FACED REINFORCED CONCRETE

STRUCTURE

REPUTED TO BE THE WORLDS FIRST

STRUCTURE THAT IMPLEMENTED THE
INNOVATIVE IDEA OF CAPSULE ARCHITECTURE
KISHO KUROKAWA DESIGNED THE NAKAGIN
CAPSULE TOWER
NAKAGIN CAPSULE TOWER IS A MIXED
SYSTEM STRUCTURE, UTILIZING BOTH
TRADITIONAL ARCHITECTURE WITH MODERN
TECHNOLOGY WITHIN ONE ENTITY. IT IS MADE
OF TWO REINFORCED CONCRETE AND STEEL
FRAME PILLARS OF ASYMMETRIC HEIGHTS,
BOTH HOUSING PUBLIC UTILITIES SUCH AS
STAIRS, ELEVATORS,PLUMBING,AND
ELECTRICAL SYSTEM
THE 14 STORY HIGH TOWER HAS 140 CAPSULES
STACKED AT ANGLE ARROUND THE CENTRAL
CORE

THE CAPSULE
THE STEEL FRAME CAPSULES (WHICH

HAVE BEEN DESIGNED TO BE

REPLACEABLE, REMOVABLE, AND
TRANSPORTABLE) WERE PREFABRICATED
IN SPECIALIST FACTORIES AND
ASSEMBLED AT A PLANT BEFORE BEING
DELIVERED TO THE SITE. EACH ONE WAS
LIFTED BY MECHANICAL CRANES AND
WERE ATTACHED TO THE TOWER SHAFTS
USING 4 HIGH TENSION BOLTS .
THE CAPSULE INTERIOR WAS PREASSEMBLED IN A FACTORY THEN HOISTED
BY CRANE AND FASTENED TO THE
CONCRETE CORE SHAFT.

INSIDE THE CAPSULE

KUROKAWAS DESIGN CONCEPT

FOCUSES ON HOW TO MAKE THE

MOST EFFICIENT USE OF LIVING
SPACE TO ACCOMMODATE THE
EVERYDAY ESSENTIALS OF A PERSON.
HE BORROWED THE CAPSULE
TERMINOLOGY FROM THE AEROSPACE
INDUSTRY AND RETROFITTED A
RECTANGULAR CABIN OF 8 FEET BY
12 FEET FLOOR SPACE WITH A BUILT
IN BATHROOM, DOUBLE BED , DESK,
STORAGE SPACES , TV, TAPEDECK,
TYPEWRITER, CALCULATOR, CLOCK
RADIO, AND A BURNER STOVE.

THANK YOU