Prefabricated Construction Startup Builds Automated Factory
US-based Plant Prefab pioneers first fully automated prefabricated construction factory to build modular homes
Plant Prefab announced last week that it will open the US’s first automated prefabricated construction factory to build building multifamily developments and custom single-family modular homes. With an investment of US$30 million, the new 25,000 Sqm facility will be situated on 17 acres in the Tejon Ranch Commerce Center 65 kilometres south of Bakersfield, California.
It’s Plant Prefab’s third factory.
Scheduled to break ground in January 2022, the prefabricated construction factory will be purpose-built to efficiently manufacture panelised and modular building components. The factory will be Plant Prefab’s first automated facility, utilising advanced processing machinery driven by Plant Prefab digital modelling data to ensure quality assurance and cost, time and material efficiency.
It will serve as Plant Prefab’s first regional production hub, expanding the company’s service area to the entire Western United States and employing up to 440 people.
“The launch of our hub is a critical milestone in Plant Prefab’s broader mission to make architectural, sustainable housing more accessible, as it allows us to expand our capabilities from single-family and small multifamily housing into high-volume, large-scale developments – including student, affordable, and market-rate housing for real estate, hospitality, and corporate developers,” said Steve Glenn, Founder and CEO of Plant Prefab.
“Materially expanding the end markets we serve helps address critical housing issues in supply- and labor-constrained markets. Our expanded capabilities will allow us to provide an even faster and more predictable, repeatable and sustainable building solution for both developers and consumers.”
Watch a Plant Prefab home being installed
The hub facility will allow for the full industrialisation of Plant Prefab’s patented Plant Building System™, which combines advanced engineering with specialized Plant Panels™ and Plant Modules™ to build custom modular housing 20 to 50 percent faster than traditional building methods with up to 30 percent less waste at a 10 to 25 percent cost savings in labour-constrained markets.
Plant Prefab’s Prefabricated construction digital modelling coordinates the routing of mechanical, electrical, and plumbing through the structure, reducing rework and delays; standardises the production of custom housing projects into panelised and modular building components; and advances state-of-the-art finish application in manufactured wall production.
Production velocity is anticipated to be 15 times that of the company’s existing facilities, and the hub will be capable of producing 83,600 Sqm of living space each year – the equivalent of 800 dwelling units. The facility will be additionally capable of producing prefabricated modules complete with all finishes, fixtures and appliances for minimal on-site finish work.
The new factory is also part of Plant Prefab’s objective of achieving carbon-neutral operations by 2028.
See: www.plantprefab.com