Pre-fabrication has had its day – Digital Construction is the future – NXT BLD London, June 2018
Bruce Bell offered the most unique take on digital fabrication as his firm has been doing it since 2007. Client’s bespoke houses are designed in Revit, from which G-code is derived through in-house secret sauce. On site, a shipping container, containing a CNC cutter, produces buildings in highly insulated, environmentally friendly wood box sections.
Bell took the concept of digital fabrication in factories to task. Given the number of houses the UK needs to build what kind of factories would we need to build? Looking at the Legal and General factory as a case in point, which aims to produce 3K prefabricated houses a year, to get that up to 50K a year it would take up to a third of all warehousing in existence in the UK. While part of the solution, it can’t be THE solution.
Bell, then explained how Facit Homes is using digital manufacturing on a small scale to produce custom residential buildings, using digital tech to control every aspect of production to delivery.
View the other NXT BLD 2018 presentations
Mike Leach, Lenovo
Enhancing performance.
Rebecca De Cicco, Digital Node
How Smart Cities, BIM and Digital Construction will alter future skill requirements.
Marc Petit, Unreal Enterprise
The journey to real time.
Hedwig Heinsman, DUS architects / Aectual
Aectual construction – sustainable, customizable, 3D printed.
Dr Abel Maciel, Bartlett School of Architecture
Design Thinking, Teams and Disruptive Technologies.
Dr Max Mallia Parfitt, Fulcro Group
VR and AR visualisation of BIM data: Changes in tech over the last 10 years.
Eleni Papadonikolaki, UCL Bartlett School & Construction Blockchain Consortium
Beyond crypto: Digital translformation in construction through blockchain technologies.
Marianna Kopsida, Trimble
Mixed Reality Solutions for AEC.
Dipa Joshi, Director of Assael Architecture
Smart cities & emerging technologies: Cutting through the noise.
Andrew Watts, Newtecnic
Future Technologies for Architecture, Engineering and Construction (AEC).
Andrei Jipa, ETH Zurich
Smart Concrete.
Stefana Parascho, Gramazio Kohler Research
Cooperative robotics in architecture.
Daniel Schmitter, Mirrakoi SA
Xirus: 3D CAD – From Biomedicine to AEC.
NXT BLD is organised by AEC Magazine and brings next generation architecture, engineering and construction technologies to life in an exclusive conference and exhibition. These emerging technologies facilitate new ways of designing, enhancing the use of 3D models, applying Artificial Intelligence (AI) and offering new possibilities in digital fabrication and construction.
NXT BLD London took place on 13 June at Congress Centre, London in association with Lenovo. The conference covered innovations in digital fabrication, Virtual and Mixed Reality, design visualisation, AI, Blockchain and lots more.
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