Prefabricated housing manufacturer wins prestigious award

2017/06/09   |   Australia

An Article of the Magazine "TIMBER & FORESTRY", June 9,2017.
Here you can read the article on TIMBER & FORESTRY online.
Editor: Dennis Macready

Prefabricated construction trendsetters Impresa House, operating in Melbourne for only seven months, has already taken out a prestigious manufacturing award, and chief executive Sean Morley will be at Frame Australia to tell why.
The Australian company, using technology that over decades has transformed panelised construction in Europe, won an award for excellence in construction technologies at the Victorian Manufacturing Hall of Fame Awards in May.
Mr Morley will be a panel member in Frame Australia’s discussion forum on construction that will focus on building system options and timber projects.
Prefabrication in Australia has traditionally been associated with cheap, unimaginative housing, but Impresa is using German WEINMANN technology that manufactures millimetreperfect housing that can deliver 8-star energy ratings.
According to Mr Morley, the main benet of the technology is the time savings, with Impresa’s manufacturing and install process achieving a 50 per cent reduction in build time by eliminating delays in construction and facilitating trade sequencing.
“People get into homes more quickly,” Mr Morley says. “Documentation - design and preparation – takes about four weeks; manufacturing three to ve days; and site assembly three to four weeks.
Mr Morley says the investment of time spent in the documentation phase creates bigger savings in manufacturing. “Our team handles a lot of the issues and problems clients would have to deal with going back and forth with the architect or engineer,” he says.
“All the selections need to be done in advance. It forces everyone to think ahead and streamline the entire process.”
Mr Morley says there are no limitations in the design of the house in the manufacturing process. “It can adapt to just about anything,” he says.
Impresa House focuses on timber construction, with large section timber frames braced both sides with oriented strand board (OSB), which allows internal and external walls to be loadbearing.
“We use engineered timber components in oor and roof cassettes, and in some cases, utilise LVL and Glulam in the frames to avoid steel beams.” Mr Morley says.

Source images: Impresa House