The $21-million three-story, four-building residential complex in Palm Springs, Fla., built by Tom Murphy, Jr., and his company, Miami-based Renco USA, hardly appears unusual from the outside. On the inside, however, its structure represents a potential revolution in construction, Murphy and others believe. Constructed entirely from a mineral composite, fiber-reinforced building system that uses blocks that interlock like LEGO bricks to form its structural walls, floors and roofs, the Palm Springs building is stronger than concrete and rated to withstand winds up to 275 mph.
The project’s construction—overseen by Coastal Construction Group, where Murphy is CEO—required a crew of just 11 workers with varying levels of skill and experience to erect the three-story buildings using only the manufactured materials, a proprietary adhesive and a mallet. Bonded together by a methyl methacrylate bonding agent, the construction system required no heavy cutting, welding or masonry work. Murphy says the system is cost competitive with concrete as well as with wood-framed construction.