Prefabricated Modular Buildings: An Architectural Revolution in Surrey

A technique developed in B.C. will see a tower of condos
built in six weeks, not six months. The process, however, is 25 years in the
making.

CATHRYN ATKINSON Special to The Globe and Mail

Unassuming Surrey may seem an unlikely place for an
architectural revolution, but the city will soon be home to a new high-rise
condo complex that its developers say will better withstand earthquakes, fire
and extreme winds -- yet is half the weight of more conventional apartment
buildings. Optima, a three-tower development due to be raised later this year
on derelict land in Whalley, will be the first pre-fabricated high-rise in the
Lower Mainland to be built from high-tech customized modules. The modules  themselves will be created in a 70,000-sq.-ft.
automated factory in North Delta that was constructed using the same
technology.

Optima will be comprised of one-bedroom, two-bedroom and two
level penthouses, and prices start at an almost forgotten amount for the B.C.
realty market: $140,900. The complex is to be the showpiece of Vancouver developers International Hi-Tech
Industries Inc. (IHI) and its president Roger Rached, whose family has put in
half of the $100-million so far spent to perfect the technology. Development of
the technology to build it has taken 25 years. "Buyers have already
reserved the first tower and half of the second on the basis of the
technology," the 45-year-old engineer said. "The system is a real
investment that won't need replacing after 10 years. It will last 100 or 200
years." Mr. Rached said what makes the Optima towers unique is the amount
of engineering study that went into creating their customized pre-manufactured
panels.

When bolted together, he said, each high-rise would act as
"one piece", and at just half the weight of conventional high-rises
is better able to flexibly absorb the impact of seismic movements and winds of
up to 300 kilometres per hour. This is because each panel is composed of a
light, rigid foam and fire resistant insulator covered with reinforced concrete
and steel, and finished with a water-proof coating. Electrical and plumbing
systems are integrated into the panel, which is almost fully soundproof. And in
what some consider to be the greatest innovation of all, Mr. Rached said that
the ease with which the panels can be connected means that each 21-storey tower
can be constructed in about six weeks, apart from the finishing work. In
comparison, he said, more conventional high-rises can take from six months to a
year to complete. Construction costs are, he added, expected to be considerably
lower than that in the current real estate market.

George Fuji, manager of current planning for Surrey City
Council, said Optima had been well received there and had pass the third
reading of its rezoning application. He added that the complex fit in with the
council's urban renewal plans to provide more housing in Surrey, which is now British Columbia's
fastest growing community. "It is an innovative high-rise project that
will help transform our city centre," said Mr. Fuji. "[IHI has] shown
through the proposal that it is supportive of Surrey's
long-term vision." Omar Take is IHI's chief project officer and a senior
architect at Tokyo
firm Tange Associates. To date, he said, several houses, warehouses, factories
and even roads have been constructed in Canada
and elsewhere using the same methods, including the company's show home on West King Edward Avenue
in Vancouver.
But Optima, he added, would be their most important project yet and is
attracting interest from around the globe. "We have concentrated for the
last 10 years on prototype projects. We've built 'floating' roads on the
permafrost in Fort McMurray,
Alberta, and also 8,000 square
foot warehouses that can be put up in just two days," he said. "The
Optima will be the jewel of all our efforts and testing."

One client, Robin Surcess, purchased the light but tough
concrete panels for use as a marina at the Cove Resort at Westbank in the
Okanagan. They are due to be installed in July. He said IHI's panels won the
competition for the work because they could be deployed faster than any other
competing bid, but added that he had been impressed by the "user
friendly" technology. "There's more of everything in them," he
said, "more quality control because more thought has gone into making
them."

IHI has its beginnings half way around the world in Beirut, Lebanon.
Mr. Rached grew up in a family of engineers who relocated en masse to Vancouver in 1988 to
escape their homeland's civil war. He, his brother and two sisters followed
their father, a professor of engineering at Beirut's
American University,
into the profession, and all eventually studied at Stanford
University in San Francisco. The family emigrated to Vancouver because they liked the city and Canada's
international reputation, and wanted to base their business in a city from
which it would be easy to sell their products internationally. They also liked
the proximity to San Francisco.
"We are very close to the city where we were technically raised, so to
speak," Mr. Rached said. He believes the automation of constructing the
modules by using robotic assembly will also revolutionize the construction
industry in a more general sense. "Our target, ultimately, is to
computerize the construction industry. When you factor in speed and cost of
automation there is no comparison," he said. "Clients wanting
high-rises around the world are waiting for the completion of the Optima to see
how it can work for them."