Reinventing prototype buildings: The significance of prefabrication in mass housing construction

Abstract

Increasingly, high quality housing remains a problem of the housing industry. Compared to the feat recorded by electronic and automotive industries, most prototype mass housing generally reveal a great deal of variability in the end products. which differs greatly from the original model. The variability is manifested in building components such as walls, floors and finishes, which compromise both quality and uniformity. Prefabrication is considered as a better approach to the production of mass housing. A number of visits was made to mass housing construction sites in Minna, capital of Niger State, Nigeria to assess discrepancies of work in the prototype buildings. A model prefab system was highlighted and other applications of innovative methods and techniques especially at the Massachusset Institute of Technology (MIT) House_n Research Consortium on open-source buildings were discussed. The approach can engender high quality construction, increase standardisation of repetitive work and reduce time spent on construction.