Modular Construction Boom On The Anvil

Cost-effective and less polluting, it is being used to put up office blocks, hospitals and houses on a large scale in quick time

- Paran Balakrishnan

The world watched in wonder as China put together a 1,000-bed hospital in 10 days and then started constructing a second one that was ready for patients in barely six. But nobody at Katerra India, which specializes in modular construction, was particularly surprised. They reckon it’s a question of how many cranes can be brought to the site and also to the factory where the walls and precast concrete slabs are fabricated. More cranes mean more money. “Nobody is asking how much it cost to build that hospital,” says Najeeb Khan, Katerra India’s head of design and business strategy.

It isn’t just the Chinese who’ve turned the spotlight on the latest modular construction techniques. Travis Kalanick, the much-watched Uber co-founder, is looking to build (construct) a new fortune by investing in Habitas, a start-up that advertises itself as a ‘Club Med for Millennials’ and which will use 3D technology to create hotels and resorts in fast time. Habitas has raised $20 million to grow its “3D printed hotel” concept from its Mexico base to Asia, the Middle East and Africa. Other investors include Indian adtech billionaire Div Turakhia and Tinder co-founder Justin Matee.

Modular construction has been around for decades, but swift-moving technology means sophisticated buildings can now be put up in next to no time at all. Says Khan: “Our company is design-led. We’ll bring design into the industry in a big way. We’ll manufacture the buildings, but they won’t look like cookie-cutter creations.”