This innovative industrial building is the first of its kind in North America. Its fully automated production line manufactures volumetric construction units for affordable housing, and the company is projected to bring more than 300 new jobs to the region.

Located on 52 acres of farmland, the 400,000-sq-ft manufacturing facility and an attached two-story, 22,000-sq-ft office building were designed to minimize disruption to surrounding areas while incorporating several original features of the homestead.

This new approach to modular housing required a true design-build format to maintain schedule and adjust quickly as the design criteria came together. A large trolley system maneuvers large, heavy units throughout the facility while they are being built, so there was no room for error when constructing the floor plan.  

The contractor’s concrete division self-performed all work during the first phase, including steel structures with spreads, walls and fittings, slab-on-grade and slab-on-deck work. The second phase consisted of fitting the enormous building to house a large industrial manufacturing plant.

Construction started well before the automated process was solidified. The team adapted quickly to the design changes and finished on schedule, allowing the owner to begin installation of the automated equipment. Most importantly, all work was achieved while staying below the project budget.

One of the project’s greatest challenges was design of the rail systems within the building. The design had the potential to hold up the building schedule, but the team came up with a process to keep the job on schedule while installing equipment at the same time. The contractor was asked to stay on site after the building was complete to manage equipment installation as well.

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