The concept of modular building is centuries old, recent advancements have made it a more attractive option than ever before, but it still comprises less than 5% of the construction market. In Toronto, conventional construction has never been more expensive, and there are currently more tower cranes than in New York, Los Angeles and Chicago combined, yet modular building has failed to gain significant traction. One of the key reasons is that many in the industry still view it as a boutique and not cost competitive solution. Such as subcontractors who are fearful of losing work. Or the preconstruction and estimating departments of general contractors who are unfamiliar with the technology and how to properly estimate the cost and account for the benefits. Or clients who are receiving poor advice from the industry in general. Then there are always the horror stories from those who tried it once and swear they'll never try it again.
Xavier Joined EllisDon in 2018 to lead EllisDon's Prefabrication and Modular group, focusing on the implementation of new technologies within EllisDon and through external partnerships, from clients and architects to subcontractors and site coordinators. Xavier gained extensive off-site prefabrication and modular construction experience with Arup in the Australian mining industry, furthered as a director with the world's foremost prefabrication consultant XSite Modular. Xavier's 20 years of industry experience include leadership positions in marketing and business development, project management, mechanical engineering, and journalism publishing articles in media with readership in the millions. He has worked on projects from concept through to completion, guiding off-site construction efforts at every stage in the health care, residential, commercial, hospitality and recreation sectors.
The concept of modular building is centuries old, recent advancements have made it a more attractive option than ever before, but it still comprises less than 5% of the construction market. In Toronto, conventional construction has never been more expensive, and there are currently more tower cranes than in New York, Los Angeles and Chicago combined, yet modular building has failed to gain significant traction. One of the key reasons is that many in the industry still view it as a boutique and not cost competitive solution. Such as subcontractors who are fearful of losing work. Or the preconstruction and estimating departments of general contractors who are unfamiliar with the technology and how to properly estimate the cost and account for the benefits. Or clients who are receiving poor advice from the industry in general. Then there are always the horror stories from those who tried it once and swear they'll never try it again.
