prefabAUS 2016

Annual Conference

10th, 11th , 12th October, Sydney

Delivering Next Generation Buildings

Australia’s peak body for prefabrication and offsite construction has announced its 2016 conference.

This year’s national three-day event will explore the theme of Delivering Next Generation Buildings.

Held from October 10-12, the 2016 conference will showcase the best in prefabricated and offsite technology and design, exploring the future of the built environment. This conference is hosted annually by the industry, for the industry.

The conference finds a new home in Sydney in 2016, and is proudly being hosted by the University of Sydney Architecture Design and Planning. This year will again feature some of the industry’s most highly regarded thought leaders, showcase ground breaking projects, explore innovative technology and host tours to some of Sydney’s most exciting locations for the offsite construction industry.

The 2016 program will also feature an inaugural cocktail party and networking event at the Ivy Sunroom to further enhance connections across the industry. Partner/guest tickets for the Cocktail party are purchasable separately.

Latest Update to the Conference Program

Official Opening by Jens Goennemann, Managing Director of the Advanced Manufacturing Growth Centre (replacing Hon Ian Macfarlane).

Additional speakers announced:

Stuart Marsland – Principal, Rothelowman

Tamara DiMattina – Founder, The New Joneses

Warwick Stannus, Group Engineering Manager, AG Coombs

Technology Workshop

Brenton Dodd - Sales Manager, MEMKO

Peter Ward - Managing Director, Drouin West Timber & Truss / Future-Fit

Michelle Mannering - Co-founder & COO, Black.ai

Industry Leaders Panel:

Ryan Smith - Associate Professor / Director – ITAC, University of Utah

James Cameron - Executive Director, Australian Construction Industry Forum (ACIF)

Nicole Sullivan - Technical Solutions Manager, Green Building Council of Australia

Ken McBryde - Principal, HASSELL

Technical Discussion

Paolo Lavisci will be joined by Fred Moshiri - Structural Engineer, Timber Development Association NSW for the technical discussion following Paolo’s presentation on Timber in Mid Rise Residential Construction under the new Australian national construction code.

Unfortunately, David Haller of Mirvac is now unable to present at the Conference.

Confirmed speakers

prefabAUS is honoured to welcome for the first time in Australia award-winning architect and Associate Professor Ryan Smith as its international keynote speaker: Offsite Construction: opportunities, challenges, benefits and futures

Smith joins us from The University of Utah where he is director of the Integrated Technology in Architecture Centre (ITAC): a university/industry teaching, research and outreach centre that is an agent of change at the intersection of design, education and construction industries.

Smith has performed US$2.5m+ in research grants and contracts from public and private institutions since 2004 (including FEMA, USDA, & DOE) to qualify and quantify industry related technology questions of production in architecture. Widely published, he is author of Prefab Architecture (Wiley 2010) and co-editor of Building Systems (Routledge 2012). Smith speaks on emerging issues in the construction industry including offsite building, BIM, IPD and sustainability.

Also for the first time in Australia will be Paolo Lavisci, PhD in Industrial Technologies – Timber and former CEO of an Italian Timber Design Bureau, as one of our international guest speakers. Lavisci has 25 years of professional experience in timber technology (product and process development, standardisation, certification, design). He is the author of several scientific publications and a book on the design of timber structures. Lavisci will present on Timber in Mid Rise Residential Construction under the new national construction code allowances in Australia.

Australian and New Zealand industry leaders confirmed to speak include:

Adam Strong, Managing Director of Strongbuild which is investing in panel systems and CLT as well as building the largest CLT project in Australia
Mark Fahey, Managing Director of MLEX who deliver modular, turnkey electrical solutions to the market
George Argyrou, Managing Director of Hickory whose 323 La Trobe Street Melbourne high rise residential project will be the tallest prefabricated building in the Australia
Logan Mullaney, Director, on the Lifting Point self-supporting modular bridge system now being commercialised in Australia and the Pacific Islands
Rob de Brincat, Business Development Manager at XLam on Thinking differently about construction: exploiting opportunities for CLT
Pamela Bell, CEO PrefabNZ and Eli Nuttall, Director PrefabNZ and founding partner at First Light Studio profiling some of the Crazy Young Disruptors in New Zealand
Dr Richard de Dear Professor in Building Science and IEQ Lab Director, University of Sydney on the SAMBA revolutionary IEQ monitoring system (for healthy, comfortable and productive workplaces)
John McDougall, Managing Director of Parkwood Homes on overcoming logistics and installation challenges in delivering volumetric homes
Makoto Ochiai, Operations Manager on the SHAWOOD (Sekisui House) turnkey pre-engineered homes and apartments
Mathew Aitchison, Director, Innovation in Applied Design Lab, University of Sydney
Michelle Mannering, Co-founder, on the Black.ai building performance optimisation technology
Zack Ashby, Director of Team2 architects who have undertaken numerous modular healthcare projects
Tuan Ngo, Research Director of the ARC Centre for Advanced Manufacturing of Prefabricated Housing, the University of Melbourne: on Latest innovations and R&D activities in prefabricated building construction
Peter Blythe, Managing Director of Dynamic Steel Frame on optimising prefabricated light gauge steel framing for mid-rise structures
Chris Barnett, Managing Director, Habitech on how connecting manufacturing efficiencies can help achieve the thermal performance and sustainability dimensions needed for Australian housing in the 21st century.

Also joining this year’s speaker line up is Marc Norman from the Harvard University Graduate School of Design. Marc Norman has dedicated his career to finding remedies to inequality and promoting economic development and social justice through innovative financial strategies paired with community development and design. With a background in real estate development and mortgage banking, Norman works with architects and housing and transportation professionals to capture the best practices from multiple fields to achieve supportive integrative neighborhoods. Norman curated the Designing Affordability: Quicker, Smarter, More Efficient Housing Now exhibition at the Centre for Architecture in New York (Oct 15 to Jan 16). This exhibition will be featured at the prefabAUS conference.

The optional site visit program on Monday 10 October :

Due to practical limitations, the previously announced visits to the Modulum domestic residence and the bathroom pods project at University of Sydney have been replaced.

The revised site visit program is:

Australia’s largest CLT project – The Gardens 101 apartment complex at Campbelltown being built by Strongbuild for Affordable Housing Provider BlueCHP Limited
The Mirvac Brighton Lakes 300 dwelling development in Moorebank which utilises the CSR Velocity prefabricated panel systems
Sydney Trains Depot at Mortlake – modular office delivery in a challenging site environment
Wynyard Walk – where aerospace technology has been applied to manufacturing irregular metal façade components
International House Sydney – Australia’s first CLT and Glulam commercial building

This year’s conference will also include the launch of a new publication titled Built Offsite to champion offsite construction and promote the industry to key stakeholders to bring about faster change.

Join us for Australasia’s premier conference for the prefabrication and offsite construction industry. Book your early bird offer now to save $300 on your ticket – valid only until August 30.

Dates: 10-12 of October 2016

Location: Seymour Centre, University of Sydney

Theme: Delivering Next Generation Buildings

Book Now

Program outline:

Day 1: Monday 10 October

Site visit program (to be advised)
10am Sydney CBD pick up (TBA)
Includes lunch return to CBD drop off 5pm approx.

Day 2: Tuesday 11 October

8am - registrations
8:30am - 5:00pm conference program
Seymour Centre, University of Sydney
7:00pm cocktail party at The Ivy 'Sunroom'

Day 3: Wednesday 12 October

8:00 - 8:45am prefabAUS AGM (prefabAUS members only)
9am - 4pm Conference Program
Seymour Centre, University of Sydney

prefabAUS is a not-for-profit industry organisation established in 2013. prefabAUS members include manufacturers of prefabricated buildings and modules, flat packs, bathroom pods and sub-assemblies, as well as component suppliers, architects, engineers and other technical consultants, project managers, builders, clients, allied industry associations, government and academic researchers. This third annual prefabAUS conference will feature national and international specialists in prefab and offsite design, manufacturing and project delivery, as well as workshops, panel discussions and site visits.