HOME DELIVERY
Some
construction firms are looking to cut costs by building near-instant structures
A sprawling
one lakh sq feet college campus completed in 100 days. A 10-storey building
shooting up in 48 hours. It may sound like someone’s gunning for a Guinness
record, but these are just examples of buildings that have used pre-fabricated
material to speed up construction and cut costs.
Towers made of precast blocks have been coming up around the world, but there’s been a rash of instant architecture in India of late. In November, the residents of Mohali in Chandigarh watched a 10-storey building take shape in just two days. Harpal Singh, chairman and managing director of infrastructure company Synergy Thrislington which built the structure, says he created Instacon — short for instant construction — to show the world that it could be done in India and by Indians.
Many are turning to prefab technology to reduce the dependence on manual labour which is in short supply as construction activity booms in India. Some builders say migration to the cities in search of jobs has reduced after the Centre’s MNREGA scheme assured villagers work.
Prefab technology is the use of readymade or factory-manufactured components in buildings. Earlier, doors, windows, ventilator shafts and similar structures were factory-made and fitted straight at the construction site. Today, in large construction projects, entire modules of the structure are cast off-site and assembled on the site.
Singh says he pulled off his feat by dividing every floor of his building (52x52sq ft) into four equal-sized blocks or modules. The modules were made at a factory, transported to the building site, and assembled there. No conventional building materials were used. The building’s shell is made of steel which was covered with polyurethane foam panels. He has a patent on the technique, he says.
“All the horizontal construction is done at the factory and only the vertical construction is done on-site. So, you take four pre-made blocks and assemble them, and a floor is ready. Then you put up pillars, and place your next floor, and so on,” says Singh.
Instacon’s foundation was dug while the modules were being readied in the factory. That took two months. The final fixtures and fittings took another month. In total, it took Singh three months to build Instacon.
In 2011, Unitech, using the Italian company Schnell’s expertise, built a 200sq m commercial centre in Gurgaon in two months. Schnell uses a panel-based building system to cut construction time. Their factory-made panels comprise a sheet of expanded polystyrene sandwiched between two steel meshes. The panels are assembled on-site and concrete sprayed on to create walls. Rajiv Singal, a sales consultant with Schnell, says skipping the brick or concrete block masonry cuts “construction time by over 50%”. Depending on volumes, costs too can be cut by 10 to 20 per cent.
Jindal Steel and Power is using Schnell’s panel-based building system in the construction of its township in Angul, Orissa. The township will house the employees of its steel plant next door.
Singh says there are monetary benefits to investing in a building like Instacon. First, there are no cost escalations. “A conventional building will take a minimum of two and half years to be built. In four years, costs escalate by as much as 40 per cent,” he says.
Second, he says, his buildings will be ready to move into in three months. “Which means they earn rents sooner,” he says. “So, an Instacon costs about the same as a conventional building, but it turns out to be more cost effective.”
But, there is a downside. The result of Singh’s frenetic building is a red and white, box-like structure with sealed windows. It is not especially pretty.
Professor Aruna Ramani Grover of School of Planning and Architecture in Delhi, says that not everything built can be called architecture. Europe went through a phase of pre-fabrication after World War II because there weren’t enough men in the workforce. But, the modernism that followed was rejected because the houses looked identical.
“There was nothing personal about it,” says Grover. “But, the banks will love it,” she says. “A conventional 10-storey building should take about four years to build in this country. With prefab, you start earning rent after the third month.”
Many preachers of prefab say it could be the solution to the 26.5 million homes that the housing and urban poverty alleviation ministry has said the country needs. But, says Professor Neelima Risbud, head of the department of housing at School of Planning and Architecture, the government, which will have to pay for the homes, does not have the kind of cash needed to build all those homes.
Prefab buildings, however, can cater to the demand for commercial and institutional space. Instacon, for instance, will never be inhabited but is a showpiece with rooms fitted out to look like classrooms, hotel rooms or office spaces. It has received enquiries from JW Marriott and Ginger Hotels.
The municipal corporation of Chandigarh has asked it to build toilets in its parks, and the Orissa government is talking about a slum redevelopment plan in Bhubaneshwar.
But Grover warns that human beings are quirky creatures: a client might start out saying he wants a red and white facade and then change his mind to an all-blue facade. That is not possible with instant architecture.
Harpal says, “That’s exactly who my buildings are for — the difficult Indian customer. By the time he comes to me saying he wants something changed, I tell him, ‘I’m sorry, but your building’s ready’.”
Towers made of precast blocks have been coming up around the world, but there’s been a rash of instant architecture in India of late. In November, the residents of Mohali in Chandigarh watched a 10-storey building take shape in just two days. Harpal Singh, chairman and managing director of infrastructure company Synergy Thrislington which built the structure, says he created Instacon — short for instant construction — to show the world that it could be done in India and by Indians.
Many are turning to prefab technology to reduce the dependence on manual labour which is in short supply as construction activity booms in India. Some builders say migration to the cities in search of jobs has reduced after the Centre’s MNREGA scheme assured villagers work.
Prefab technology is the use of readymade or factory-manufactured components in buildings. Earlier, doors, windows, ventilator shafts and similar structures were factory-made and fitted straight at the construction site. Today, in large construction projects, entire modules of the structure are cast off-site and assembled on the site.
Singh says he pulled off his feat by dividing every floor of his building (52x52sq ft) into four equal-sized blocks or modules. The modules were made at a factory, transported to the building site, and assembled there. No conventional building materials were used. The building’s shell is made of steel which was covered with polyurethane foam panels. He has a patent on the technique, he says.
“All the horizontal construction is done at the factory and only the vertical construction is done on-site. So, you take four pre-made blocks and assemble them, and a floor is ready. Then you put up pillars, and place your next floor, and so on,” says Singh.
Instacon’s foundation was dug while the modules were being readied in the factory. That took two months. The final fixtures and fittings took another month. In total, it took Singh three months to build Instacon.
In 2011, Unitech, using the Italian company Schnell’s expertise, built a 200sq m commercial centre in Gurgaon in two months. Schnell uses a panel-based building system to cut construction time. Their factory-made panels comprise a sheet of expanded polystyrene sandwiched between two steel meshes. The panels are assembled on-site and concrete sprayed on to create walls. Rajiv Singal, a sales consultant with Schnell, says skipping the brick or concrete block masonry cuts “construction time by over 50%”. Depending on volumes, costs too can be cut by 10 to 20 per cent.
Jindal Steel and Power is using Schnell’s panel-based building system in the construction of its township in Angul, Orissa. The township will house the employees of its steel plant next door.
Singh says there are monetary benefits to investing in a building like Instacon. First, there are no cost escalations. “A conventional building will take a minimum of two and half years to be built. In four years, costs escalate by as much as 40 per cent,” he says.
Second, he says, his buildings will be ready to move into in three months. “Which means they earn rents sooner,” he says. “So, an Instacon costs about the same as a conventional building, but it turns out to be more cost effective.”
But, there is a downside. The result of Singh’s frenetic building is a red and white, box-like structure with sealed windows. It is not especially pretty.
Professor Aruna Ramani Grover of School of Planning and Architecture in Delhi, says that not everything built can be called architecture. Europe went through a phase of pre-fabrication after World War II because there weren’t enough men in the workforce. But, the modernism that followed was rejected because the houses looked identical.
“There was nothing personal about it,” says Grover. “But, the banks will love it,” she says. “A conventional 10-storey building should take about four years to build in this country. With prefab, you start earning rent after the third month.”
Many preachers of prefab say it could be the solution to the 26.5 million homes that the housing and urban poverty alleviation ministry has said the country needs. But, says Professor Neelima Risbud, head of the department of housing at School of Planning and Architecture, the government, which will have to pay for the homes, does not have the kind of cash needed to build all those homes.
Prefab buildings, however, can cater to the demand for commercial and institutional space. Instacon, for instance, will never be inhabited but is a showpiece with rooms fitted out to look like classrooms, hotel rooms or office spaces. It has received enquiries from JW Marriott and Ginger Hotels.
The municipal corporation of Chandigarh has asked it to build toilets in its parks, and the Orissa government is talking about a slum redevelopment plan in Bhubaneshwar.
But Grover warns that human beings are quirky creatures: a client might start out saying he wants a red and white facade and then change his mind to an all-blue facade. That is not possible with instant architecture.
Harpal says, “That’s exactly who my buildings are for — the difficult Indian customer. By the time he comes to me saying he wants something changed, I tell him, ‘I’m sorry, but your building’s ready’.”
PARAKRAM
RAUTELA TCR130615
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