Top-down construction—assembling the floor of a building on the ground and lifting it into place—has long presented a possible alternative to the labor-intensive process of constructing steel frames, floors, walls and all components at height. But what happens when that process is combined with a prefabrication strategy that aims to take manufacturing best practices and apply them to construction?

That question is being answered with Exchange, a 207-ft-tall condo and apartment tower in Detroit’s Greektown neighborhood. The 16-story project would be difficult, at best, to construct on its triangular, three-quarter-acre site, and not just because it is bordered by busy city streets and businesses on all sides. Detroit’s elevated People Mover system alongside the site also constrains any potential tower crane usage.