Ohio Modular Factories
For housing innovation to be successful, the entire pipeline from initial design concept by the architect through to occupancy must be designed for optimal efficiency, well led, sufficiently financed, and with an integrated team of experts. Good architecture is not enough to move the needle. This is why innovation in housing has been so elusive for nearly a century, since Buckminster Fuller attempted mass production of housing with his Dymaxion House in the late 1920’s. To significantly increase housing production, dwelling units need to be designed for streamlined manufacturing and assembly (DfMA), and reflective of resident needs and desires. Reducing time is the goal. Stuart Emmons comes to the housing challenge with unique experiences and expertise that encompass not only architecture, but also manufacturing. He designs housing for manufacturing, he designs manufacturing processes for rapid housing production. Emmons’ splitting component and volumetric assembly is unique in the US and the exhibits below summarize the concept. In this case, the architect designs not only the product, but the process to build it.
Component Factory
The Component Factory (above) makes flat walls for a modular residential unit. There are six wall production lines for exterior walls, interior wet walls, interior dry walls (no plumbing), floors, and ceilings. Architectural and structural design work for residential modules is tailored to component fabrication to streamline production. All decisions are made, no change orders, and systems are fully coordinated into the design. Plumbing trees are pre-assembled, and connections are minimized to accelerate manufacturing. Every station on a line is exactly the same time duration.
Emmons Design has employed ‘smart stud’ design, using Howick steel stud fabricating machines, that make each steel stud prebored, tabbed, and indented to reduce wall assembly by over a half of conventional wall assembly.
This is the one of the most rapid wall assembly plant configurations in the US.
Volumetric Assembly Factory
The Volumetric Assembly Factory is designed for accuracy and speed. An unprecedented rate of a module every 30 minutes can be achieved by this unique design. Every station is 25 minutes, and this required a ‘Drywall Loop’ that takes each module off the Main Line for 24 hours to accommodate a rapid GWB installation, compound, sand and painted using a recent innovation process. (When the GWB conundrum is solved with a dry, mechanically attached product/process the Loop will be converted to a second Main Line). This design is designed around the architecture of the module, including strategic subassemblies, for maximum efficiency, and does not use automation for automation’s sake - thus allowing for these rapid completion times.
