This probably is one of the answers to a cities low-cost housing supply woes. In Rockingham in Perth, a four-story apartment building took only two and a half days to build. According to Domain, Coast Apartments located at the junction of the Wanliss and Attwood streets is made of preassembled modular parts imported from China.
While the grand floor will be utilized for commercial spaces, this new modular apartment complex is comprised of 13 one, two and three-bedroom apartments with prices ranging from $345,000 to $559,000. And it seems spacious enough because living spaces can measure from 52 to 91 square meters. Basically, the entire apartment building was pieced together out of 31 modules manufactured offsite made into kitchens bathrooms and other interior fixtures and fittings then shipped out. The modular parts are bolted together on to a steel support structure. Completed in December, it only took two and a half days to assemble.
According to Domain, this is the first apartment made by builder Qualstruct and module supplier Stackit. In the meantime each unit has yet to be polished, which Qualstruct managing director Nathan Ogilvie said will be completed by April. Moreover, he said that the modular apartment is getting interest from people who are amenable to the modular idea
Ogilvie said, "There were always going to be people questioning the compliance quality of the product, with it coming out of China. We jumped in on the front foot with that from day dot and made sure it was tracked very carefully to ensure it complied with all standards."
Obviously, the good thing about the modular building method is that it takes significantly less time to put together which reduces construction cost. Stackit spokesperson Ian Duperouzel said, "You can shave 50 per cent off a build time. The project can be rented or sold sooner, resulting in a faster return on investment.
