Applying future industrialised processes to construction

Construction has traditionally relied on specifications and 2D drawings to convey material properties, performance details and location information. Advanced 3D solid modelling and digital fabrication methods are growing in construction. Iconic building design is driving the industry towards a new era of the Building Information Model (BIM) where a building is modelled entirely using 3D solid CAD tools containing all the required information for construction. CNC machinery can utilise this information to manufacture components enabling highly bespoke and non-repeating components to be cost competitive. Rapid Manufacturing machines also use this information to build components by selectively adding material rather than the traditional subtractive or formative processes. The BIM drives current machines for the production of models for inspection or to explore assembly issues. Recent developments are scaling up these processes so that whole building components can be built using a mega scale, additive machine. This paper explores some of the issues relating to the design of building components and discusses issues on the implementation of these process.