It's real! Building faster, cheaper, better apartments

FLAT CHAT WRAP

Imagine if you could build apartments in half the time at 15 per cent less cost and a guarantee of no waterproofing, fire safety or structural defects.

‘Tell ’im he must be dreamin’,” say strata’s Darryl Kerrigans. Apartment blocks take longer to build than ever, cost more, and fire and waterproofing are still endemic defects across the industry.

Enter Wayne Larson of PT Blink who is already constructing hundreds of new blocks with the promise that the process will be faster, less costly and with a much, much higher level of quality control.

How do they do it? It’s been described as a cross between Lego and Ikea flat pack furniture.

Quite simply, at the same time as the steel frame is being constructed on-site, the floors, walls, bathrooms, windows and balconies are being manufactured in factories hundreds of kilometres away.

Okay, but doesn’t that mean identical looking chicken coops springing up all around the country?

Far from it, says Wayne. They take architect drawings, pull them apart and create the individual components, which then all come together, ready to occupy the spaces created on the steel frame.

Have a look at this video and it will make even more sense. But first, listen to this week's Flat Chat Wrap. Enjoy.

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Recorded by Jimmy Thomson & Sue Williams; Transcribed by Otter.ai.
Find out more about Sue Williams and Jimmy Thomson on their websites.