Construction is generally considered to be the world's largest industry, and yet, it is well known that its productivity levels suck. Over the last half century, the industry has experienced something in between meager and negative productivity growth.
It is for this reason that, for as long as I can remember, people have been trying to figure out how to turn development and construction into something more repeatable and less custom -- something like a product.
Now, there can be a bit of a stigma associated with this moniker. Architects don't often like to think of their work as being a product and references to modularity can sometimes evoke feelings of cheapness (think manufactured homes).
But I think all of this is quickly changing. And at the end of the day, we are going to need to start building like this if we have any hope of making housing more affordable within our cities.
Construction is generally considered to be the world's largest industry, and yet, it is well known that its productivity levels suck. Over the last half century, the industry has experienced something in between meager and negative productivity growth.
It is for this reason that, for as long as I can remember, people have been trying to figure out how to turn development and construction into something more repeatable and less custom -- something like a product.
Now, there can be a bit of a stigma associated with this moniker. Architects don't often like to think of their work as being a product and references to modularity can sometimes evoke feelings of cheapness (think manufactured homes).
But I think all of this is quickly changing. And at the end of the day, we are going to need to start building like this if we have any hope of making housing more affordable within our cities.
Here's an example.
Back in 2021, I wrote about a
new modular housing company called Juno
. They had just broken ground on their first project in Austin (a five-story 24-unit building), and they were in the media talking about how they had more or less reduced the building down to 33 standardized parts.
The multi-family space has since softened in Austin, and I don't have any inside knowledge of how this project went, but the building is now complete and being leased up. And regardless, I think it's an important case study to look to. This is where our industry is heading.
One of the co-founders of Juno -- a new mass-timber and modular housing company -- was recently
new modular housing company called Juno
. They had just broken ground on their first project in Austin (a five-story 24-unit building), and they were in the media talking about how they had more or less reduced the building down to 33 standardized parts.
The multi-family space has since softened in Austin, and I don't have any inside knowledge of how this project went, but the building is now complete and being leased up. And regardless, I think it's an important case study to look to. This is where our industry is heading.
One of the co-founders of Juno -- a new mass-timber and modular housing company -- was recently
I have written about Koto a few times before (check here and here). They design and fabricate beautiful modular homes and cabins that are designed to connect you back to nature.
One location where you can already find these cabins is on Fritton Lake, which is about 2 hours and 45 minutes outside of London. The way it works is that you buy a plot of land in the Fritton Lake community and then you choose which Koto home you would like.
There are two models available -- Ki and Miru -- and they can be customized as either 2 or 3-bedroom cabins. Apparently it then takes somewhere between 4 and 6 months for your new cabin to be fabricated and delivered to site.
But today it's perhaps easy to imagine a world where only the top end of the market builds on-site and custom. Koto is also evidence that these homes can be just as, if not more, beautiful and sustainable.
FYI: The Koto team is having an "open day" on Saturday, October 1, 2022 at Fritton Lake. If you happen to be in the area and would like to check out the cabins (and do things like swim in the lake), drop them a note to book a spot.
. Prior to cofounding Juno, BJ Siegel was Apple's design director and spent 19 years designing and working on their stores. And so this is the lens that he and his partners are bringing to the real estate development space. (I also just learned this morning that their
is a former classmate of mine from Penn.) Here is an excerpt from the Dezeen article that speaks to their goal of productizing the delivery of new housing:
The third is Apple really challenged us to think about the way we deliver the project more like the way they deliver products through a kind of owner-furnished direct source supply chain model.
And that actually spurred a lot of investigation as to how to translate that work from a product into this industry [real estate development], which is really kind of not focused on that.
So that really was a big, big focus.
The company recently announced that they have broken ground on their first project in Austin, Texas. It is a five storey 24-unit residential project that is being positioned as "middle-income, market-rate" housing. They've reduced the building down to about 33 standardized parts and are using a secret type of mass timber that is manufactured in the US. Supposedly it's better than cross-laminated timber, but the company is keeping it as part of their secrete sauce right now.
Juno is not the first company to identify this gaping problem in the development and construction space. The typical construction process is antiquated, inefficient, and filled with far too much waste. Which is why modular / pre-fabricated housing has been a goal of architects, builders and others for generations. Eventually we will figure out how to better productize the delivery of new housing and bring down its costs. And in my view that will be a great thing for consumers.
Rendering by Engraff Studio via Dezeen
I have written about Koto a few times before (check here and here). They design and fabricate beautiful modular homes and cabins that are designed to connect you back to nature.
One location where you can already find these cabins is on Fritton Lake, which is about 2 hours and 45 minutes outside of London. The way it works is that you buy a plot of land in the Fritton Lake community and then you choose which Koto home you would like.
There are two models available -- Ki and Miru -- and they can be customized as either 2 or 3-bedroom cabins. Apparently it then takes somewhere between 4 and 6 months for your new cabin to be fabricated and delivered to site.
But today it's perhaps easy to imagine a world where only the top end of the market builds on-site and custom. Koto is also evidence that these homes can be just as, if not more, beautiful and sustainable.
FYI: The Koto team is having an "open day" on Saturday, October 1, 2022 at Fritton Lake. If you happen to be in the area and would like to check out the cabins (and do things like swim in the lake), drop them a note to book a spot.
. Prior to cofounding Juno, BJ Siegel was Apple's design director and spent 19 years designing and working on their stores. And so this is the lens that he and his partners are bringing to the real estate development space. (I also just learned this morning that their
is a former classmate of mine from Penn.) Here is an excerpt from the Dezeen article that speaks to their goal of productizing the delivery of new housing:
The third is Apple really challenged us to think about the way we deliver the project more like the way they deliver products through a kind of owner-furnished direct source supply chain model.
And that actually spurred a lot of investigation as to how to translate that work from a product into this industry [real estate development], which is really kind of not focused on that.
So that really was a big, big focus.
The company recently announced that they have broken ground on their first project in Austin, Texas. It is a five storey 24-unit residential project that is being positioned as "middle-income, market-rate" housing. They've reduced the building down to about 33 standardized parts and are using a secret type of mass timber that is manufactured in the US. Supposedly it's better than cross-laminated timber, but the company is keeping it as part of their secrete sauce right now.
Juno is not the first company to identify this gaping problem in the development and construction space. The typical construction process is antiquated, inefficient, and filled with far too much waste. Which is why modular / pre-fabricated housing has been a goal of architects, builders and others for generations. Eventually we will figure out how to better productize the delivery of new housing and bring down its costs. And in my view that will be a great thing for consumers.
