List of Construction Systems

[alastair]

I thought I'd also start a thread to post links / information on other construction systems, projects and organisations you know of which are of interest either because:

- They are using digital fabrication (albeit possibly through proprietary rather than open projects) in a related way.

- They set the existing benchmarks for cost / time / skill / quality, and existing construction methods in low cost, user made or community development projects.

- ... you just find them interesting to learn from / improve on.

Might be any climate, any materials / methods, respond to different contexts and economies etc. 

[alastair]

Facit Homes 

Really cool London based firm developing proprietary construction system using CNC - as seen on Grand Designs. Check out their website here. I could (but won't) go on at length about how the different economies / markets shape different assembly system to WikiHouse, but.. fascinating to take a look.

[alastair]

Techo

Non-profit organisation using volunteer time to support community development projects in developing countries. Click here for their website.

Video of a construction process. Lots of potential innovation areas..

[alastair]

Irish Vernacular

Marvellous project by Dominic Stevens Architects.Simple small timber frame house made for €25,000 in Ireland, with complete, easy to understand drawings and instructions shared openly online.Sets some fantastic benchmarks, with full costed list of materials.

[nick]

Shelter2.0 This is a website for some acquaintances of mine stateside that use the same equipment that we do.  They are humanitarian, relief shelters.  I need to remind them to join the group.

[nick]

zomes (geodesic domes)  cool connections and far out construction

On Sunday, March 10, 2013 10:30:22 AM UTC-4, Alastair wrote:

[nick]

gregg fleischman  also worth looking around his website

On Sunday, March 10, 2013 10:30:22 AM UTC-4, Alastair wrote:

[nick]

Click-raft system

On Sunday, March 10, 2013 10:30:22 AM UTC-4, Alastair wrote:

[nick]

CNC concept house  a link to a British CNC shop and a project that they cut out for someone

On Sunday, March 10, 2013 10:30:22 AM UTC-4, Alastair wrote:

[nick]

Eentileen (the Danish Facit)

On Sunday, March 10, 2013 10:30:22 AM UTC-4, Alastair wrote:

[Martin Luff]

We're aware of Click-Raft here with us in NZ. Nice renders and some interesting ideas - but only seen very small prototypes in this system so not sure how many if any full sized structures around yet - possibly similar state of dev to WikiHouse at this point...

M

[Martin Luff]

We've had a few discussions with Daiman Otto who's been working on his own system at Analog Structures http://blog.ponoko.com/2012/06/19/cnc-machined-analog-structures/. Last time we chatted his plan was to Open Source his design work so possibly some crossover collaboration possible there. He's worked with ARKit in Australia so has decent experience in taking stuff through to final build http://arkit.com.au/ 

[Alastair]

Walter Segal System
Not to be forgotten, of course, the Walter Segal system which was a pre-digital open source construction system developed in the 60s. Theres a page on this site about it, but v limited information out there generally, and oddly, full instructions never seem to have made it online.

[nick]

Dr. Larry Sass From MIT designed and built the very first Digitally fabricated house that I ever saw.  Had a project called a quick cabin that was a precursor to this:
New Orleans house MOMA 2008

The shop that cut the parts for this structure used 2 shopbots. 

On Sunday, March 10, 2013 10:30:22 AM UTC-4, Alastair wrote:

[nick]

On Sunday, March 10, 2013 10:30:22 AM UTC-4, Alastair wrote:

[Alastair]

I've never seen this video of this project, only photos. Our v3.0 still uses screws on the external panels (in particular the ceiling ones, for obvious reasons! Floors and walls usually stay on by means of friction, but we often put screws in for security / to inhibit movement). Their ceiling looks like they've used loop and peg connections - which is a straight alternative (it just has implications for finish / material economy), but i'm wondering if/how their crucifix pieces in the wall panels work to hold panels on - possibly just by tightening everything up laterally... ?

[nick]

Instant House

[nick]

The Instant Cabin Project

On Sunday, March 10, 2013 10:30:22 AM UTC-4, Alastair wrote:

[nick]

This may be better suited in the software section.  They are using Revit, which is what we use.  Interesting stuff here

Diffra Inc.

On Sunday, March 10, 2013 10:30:22 AM UTC-4, Alastair wrote:

[Martin Luff]

Hi Nick

We came across this project and yourHOUSE (see attached) follow-up near start of our research... We've had some discussions with Larry from this end and he immediately indicated willingness to transfer knowledge; we've been a bit tied up in all sorts of stuff this end but just reconnecting with him again to follow up on his offer. As an aside, he's been doing a lot of work out in Singapore on how to crack the whole issue of pre-finished interiors - which also ties in with the stuff we've been looking at around the air tightness and moisture permeability required to meet performance for systems like Passive House... worth doing a quick Google around his work on 'solid surface stitching' :)

Thanks for the other links - not seen all of those articles... 

Regards

Martin

[Martin Luff]

Hi again team, I don't think Larry would mind me sharing his response with you... very generous and highly intelligent man who's ideas seem very clearly aligned with ours here in NZ and the core team on WikiHouse... 

"Hi Martin 

Thank you for sharing your work with me. The videos are wonderful and fulfill the greater vision of human centered production.  We share a common vision and expectation. I would love to help and share in anyway possible. I am currently focused on two projects at MIT with SUTD in Singapore, I hope will help the enterprise of people centered design and production.  

The first project is product development of a functional micro house. I have found that the structural design, modeling and prototyping is one of the easiest parts of the process. I believe one of the greatest challenges is digital fabrication of accessible building finishes. For example, it is best to digitally fabricated exterior siding and interior wall surfaces: finished floors, walls, ceilings, etc. The finishes of a building take a large percentage of the contractors time when using manual tools. Replacing manually produced finishes such as pre-cut flooring and woodwork as well maximizes the digital production system. Without digitally fabricated finishes savings and efficiency in fabrication has been minimized. To do this requires product development and design many months in advance of a client. We are conducting the same types of design explorations found in product design. 

The second project is software that generates structural data from a starting CAD shape. Now that I have defined a structural strategy the question is how to generate geometry quickly for a variety of house styles and variations in building form. This means generation of geometry for  a round building at the same speed as a rectangular building. Without software CAD fatigue in modeling becomes a factor in design efficiency. The CAD modelers and fabricators are over loaded with many repetitive modeling tasks. This is not a parametric issues that can be resolved by CAD plug ins such as Rhino grass hopper. The problem is rule based problem in need of a new way to generate geometry. 

I realize this may be a bit more than you expected to hear. There are a lot of factors in producing people centered buildings typically not discussed on websites. The challenge for the designer will be managing, designing and tracking projects from start to installation and turn key. Digital skills are typically not found in contractors in the US. It is up to the architects to push the technology. 

I would love to help, let me know your needs and concerns. 

Larry"

[nick]

Thank you Martin for sharing!  I too have reached out to Larry but through Facebook which, I can tell, is very much a personal venue for him and not much for talking shop. I can definitely see the benefit of this group already and being able to exchange the information here.  I do have some contributions to go and make in the materials thread in regards to the envelope and sealing the structure.

On Sunday, March 10, 2013 10:30:22 AM UTC-4, Alastair wrote:

[nick]

Here is another system that is not in the same vein material wise as to what we do, although some of you may find it a bit interesting.  We came across these guys on Kickstarter a few months ago.  Able Nook

On Sunday, March 10, 2013 10:30:22 AM UTC-4, Alastair wrote:

[nick]

our Defunct project-  an album of the experiments we were working on the past few years.  The Ego was finally kicked out  about a month and a half ago.  The ones of us that are still here are just now shaking off being burnt and burned out.  We are ready to start over again.  We shall see....

On Sunday, March 10, 2013 10:30:22 AM UTC-4, Alastair wrote:

[Martin Luff]

Whoa! Many thanks for sharing that - will take a little while to digest all the info in there... sorry to hear it's been a difficult path. 

I can better understand the depth of your knowledge now - that's an awful lot of experience cutting a variety of materials let alone all the jointing stuff, laminating and so on. (looks like some of the joints there were from the 50 CNC Joints project? We've used some of those in our work here) Definitely welcome your continued feedback on our work here at WikiHouse - I think there's a lot which could benefit us from your knowledge/wisdom. We're moving a lot more quickly this last three months than preceding six months or so and learning a lot from each iteration of our ideas. Bit full on now for next month to cut full sized frame but will try and share more of our stuff as we go along (just not enough hours in day...)

Kind regards

Martin

[nick]

Thank you for the kind words. I love the 50 digital wood joints!  What a great bit of knowledge to have, it makes things seem so easy sometimes.  Aside from CNC work my professional background has two major aspects that have given me some great practical experience to the way that I have approached the Digital house fabrication and construction.  The first being Industrial systems scaffolding where steel components were rapidly assembled to build temporary structures for maintenance and access.
  The second, which hits really close to home, was boat hull jig fabrication . Which is also what the guys at shelter 2.0 draw from in their design. 

Currently, we have also made some more traditional prefab structures in our shop that were frame and panel types where all of the framework bolted together and we fabricated SIP's that had an interior and exterior finish on them.  Which, ultimately, has taken me down a path to figure out a reasonably uncomplicated pre wired, and pre plumbed panel system. 

  On Saturday, we have the head of Amerisips coming to our studio to see some of our stuff.  This will be the initial "meet and greet"  but I intend to promote our stud wall system as a means of framing the interior of their "Ecoshell" SIP package.  My hopes and dreams are to create a solid revenue stream here that will provide enough capital for me to work solely on Wikihouse projects and help the people who need it the most.  I do hope that this will go according to my plan but again, we shall see......

[Martin Luff]

Hi Nick

Sorry for slow reply. Things are a bit manic this end right now - but in a good way. Lots of things slotting into place this year from a lot of hard work last year - still plenty to get in place but good progress. 

I have some experience in scaffolding - simply as site supervisor on construction site in UK (but a while ago and a lot of the towers we used then are now considered unsafe - but some crossover ideas). 

Thanks for sharing the boat hull stuff - cool! Now I can easily see how a lot of that could crossover... I'm assuming that formwork didn't stay in the finished hull (looks like medium density fibre board)? So only had to be structural in the sense of taking the stresses and strains of the actual hull construction - or was some/all of that left in place in some hulls?

Interesting to see that in a lot of work like this and also in Larry's work the humble halving joint sees a lot of use whereas we're spending a fair bit of time trying to come up with stronger solutions but tend to be more complex.

Keep us in the loop on the Amerisips stuff - hope that goes to plan. Would be fantastic if you could make that work as a way to progress the WikiHouse stuff :) Your system looks rather like some of the work by Kevin Scalley here in Christchurch on his UpDown Housing (my partner Danny Squires working on WikiHouseNZ is helping out with some CAD on this project). One of the interesting aspects of this project is his fixing system for the SIPS which both permits any single SIP to be swapped out in a fully built structure and also maintains a constant predictable tension across a whole wooden framed structure which is expanding and contracting with changes in temperature and moisture...

In the next week or so we should be in a position to release some new CAD files for our WikiHouseNZ latest project so will keep you posted...

Kind regards

Martin

[nick]

Hey Martin,

Glad to hear that things are ramping up for you guys!  Yes,  all of the MDF forms were removed.  The few bulkheads that were structural and stayed in were made of marine plywood as well as the wood chine logs and the stems etc. yet in principle, the construction methods to cut out and erect the jig is quite similar to the house fabrication. 

As far as Amerisips is concerned: Those guys have there product figured out on a "Henry Ford" type level.  They had just secured a South American contract for 19,000 homes.  Had to raise $750 million (US) capital upfront.  They already had solutions that were better than anything that we had to offer them.  Some interesting facts that they let us know were that these countries will not allow you to build out of wood.  So they are cladding their SIP in magnesium sulfide.  They also have a Hundeggar CNC that is 6 axis 10 feet wide and 25 feet long.  it can cut out the paneling for a 60 square meter home in 4 hours!  They are on top of the electro/mechanical panel integration as well.  There may be some trickle down to us though.  I mean they did come over to see our prototype so it wasn't all bad.

[Martin Luff]

OK, makes sense on the boat stuff. 

19,000 homes - that's pretty large scale. $750M is chunky and can't imagine raising that much up front - but for those numbers I can imagine putting a case together (but not sure I'd sleep at night!). I've seen some pretty big CNC stuff - makes sense for their scale and you just can't hack it for those numbers with lightweight kit if you're the one doing all of them. However, WikiHouse ideas are more around neighbourhood level manufacturing plants and lots of them rather than the older more centralised models like Amerisips; so this is alternative way to scale. I think this can work at the production and assembly level - not so sure it works at the CAD level since I think that currently requires more time and expertise (both CAD and related design, architecture, planning etc.) than would make sense for average community based facility to invest - so probably most of that likely to come from a core team of more skilled users working on central library of designs which users can mass customise without too much difficulty although within limits. Although I think some of the concepts from Larry whereby you can create some toolkits for community based groups and individuals from sophisticated rules based software which enable rapid customisation from starting parametric kitset with user friendly interface - could be future tool to close the gap as time goes on. Certainly I think you could achieve greater customisation than the sort of levels with most other manufactured products (like cars for example where the 'customisation' is often limited to finishing kit and limited variations like engine size for example).

[Martin Luff]

PS, I've also been looking at magnesium panels - under the Magroc label here in NZ - although those are manufactured in China. The material ticks a lot of boxes - e.g. stable dimensions across a big temp range, doesn't hold distorted shape if stored bowed on a pallet for a long time (unlike ply) good impact resistance, fireproof, insect proof, immune to damp, breathable, price competitive with ply (at least here in NZ but then we pay a lot for our ply here) low embodied energy, freely available raw material, non toxic etc. Might well work in the thinner sheets for cladding a wood or plastic frame WikiHouse - not sure it would work for structure since if you used say 15mm I suspect frame alone would have too much mass, plus wouldn't have same strength in joints or edge quality for footings and so on. Magroc sell it as plain sheets or as SIPS with polystyrene sandwich - but I've also seen other materials used as the 'filling'...

On Friday, 5 April 2013 05:37:06 UTC+13, nick wrote:

[nick]

You pretty much nailed it.  As time progresses, I feel that Wikihouse philosophy has the potential to become more normal for residential home building.  It was brought up very early in our Amerisips meeting about meeting building code for construction and how we were solving that.  That company also incorporates steel framing, when necessary, to attach the SIP.  Although that may have only been for their commercial applications.  It is obvious that the Wikihouse is taking a more organic approach in a lot of ways and we are in a state of constant evolution right now.  Sort of like the Wright brothers on the cusp of something that has never been done but once we get off the ground things will progress much more rapidly.  Just my humble opinion.

Cheers

[nick]

The House that Larry printed

A TED talk this year from Larry Sass.  Mostly background info but has some new stuff as well.

[Eric Hunting]

Grid Beam, AKA Box Beam. Possibly the original Maker building system. Derivative of the Matrix system developed by Ken Isaacs in the 1960s and used as the basis of his Living Structures. 

http://gridbeam.biz/

http://www.gridbeam.com/  (currently not functioning) 

Makerbeam. 10mm series aluminum T-slot profile deriving from the large family of T-slot framing used in industrial automation. Product of one of the early successful Kickstarters, Makerbeam is an open source framing system intended for small scale robotics, machines, and electronics. 

http://www.makerbeam.eu/makerbeam.html

Utilihab. (my own project) An Open Hardware T-slot frame based housing system intended to repurpose industrial framing based on 50mm series profiles with beams in 100, 150, and 200mm sizes. Currently in research project stage. Similar, but proprietary, systems have been developed by companies such as Tomahouse, iT House, and KitHaus. Also currently researching a Utilihab 2.0 system that is more minimalist and technically advanced, based on a frameless 'backplane' deck system and the use of modular reinforced furniture elements doubling as structural supports. (after the Furniture House concept of Shigeru Ban) 

http://utilihab.wikia.com/wiki/Utilihab_Wiki

Quadrant House. Currently closest commercial analog to Utilihab, based on an exclusive 6.5" (160mm?) profile system manufactured in China. 

quadranthouse.com

Quadror. Perhaps the most novel structural element invented in a century but, sadly, also proprietary. 

http://www.quadror.com/

MIT Instant House. Possibly an influence on the Wikihouse project, was one of the first forays into the usd of CNC-based manufacture for whole buildings. After well received demonstration of New Orleans style yourHouse design, evolved into a startup company using a proprietary system based using parametric design/manufacture software. MIT again used the technology in a one-off Solar Decathlon project called FabLab House.  

http://ddf.mit.edu/projects/CABIN/

http://web.mit.edu/yourhouse/project1.html

http://www.fablabhouse.com/en/

N55 Space Frame. Based in Denmark, N55 is one of the earliest and most productive open design teams in the world. Their Space Frame system is an octet truss system based on angle struts that has featured in many of their projects. 

http://www.n55.dk/MANUALS/SPACEFRAME/spaceframe.html

N55 Spaceplates. A novel plate-based dome construction system derivative of those used for geodesic structures but, with the advent of CNC cutting, now capable of non-symmetrical structures. May also offer a solution to the long-standing problem of truly modular and demountable roofing systems. 

http://www.n55.dk/MANUALS/SPACEPLATESG/spaceplatesg.html

Open Structures. A project originating in Brussels and intended to develop a comprehensive modular component library for all sorts of uses based on a universal standard grid. Has some similarities to N55's work as well as Ken Isaac's Living Structures but takes the concept of a common geometry/topology to a very broad level of application. 

http://openstructures.net/

Rod & Clamp and Pipe Fitting systems. A very old technology with no definitive name and of rather mysterious origin commonly used by many Makers without actually knowing much about it. Was long used in the construction of early RepRap 3D printers. Rod & clamp systems use solid rods of various materials with block-like clamps fixed with tightening screws. These have long been used in the laboratory setting for the ad hoc construction of lab equipment and today are most commonly seen in use in optics/photonics, photography, and music studio equipment. Easy to make with 3D printed clamp blocks, they have become popular for Maker designs. The larger pipe fitting systems, such as the well known Kee Klamp, use electrical conduit and fittings fixed with hex-key set-screws. They are commonly used for hand railings and greenhouse construction. 

http://www.keeklamp.com/

T-slot & Tab Connection. A commonly seen form of connection in assemblies for box shapes using laser-cut wood. Uses slots and tabs with the addition of T-shaped cuts holding a nut and through-bolt. Not especially strong and has issues with crushing of wood surface under the bolt head, but simple and easy for light duty assemblies. 

Volkshaus. Originating with the design group Landship in Japan in the 1980s, Volkhaus was one of the first attempts to create an open modular building system for housing--long before the advent of the Open Source movement. Derivative of traditional Japanese construction with a touch of high-tech, the system used a post & beam wood framing system with a fully flush demountable connection based on steel plates called Kure-Tec made by Tatsumi Corp. ( http://www.tatsumi-web.com/ ) Based on a standardized grid and topology, these minimalist frames were outfit with specially designed SIP panels made of marine-grade plywood with perimeter edge gaskets that screwed onto the outside of the basic frame, creating a stressed skin system. The plywood was usually of sufficiently high grade to need little or no additional interior finishing. More conventional siding was screw-attached to the SIPs exterior. Development was pursued by several companies called Be-Haus, A-Kit, and the Oji Group. Today, however, the system has fallen into obscurity and my own writings remain the only on-line references in English. 

http://www.landship.co.jp/

Min-A-Max and Universal Node System. These two related systems were most famously used in the construction of the ill-fated Biosphere II project and represent some of the most sophisticated space frame geometries to emerge from the dome and space frame craze inspired by Buckminster Fuller. Developed by architect Peter Pearce and documented in his awesome MIT Press book, Structure In Nature Is A Strategy For Design, the system offered many improvements over the geodesic system and allowed for much more free-form structures. Some of their interesting features included rectangular openings in otherwise triangulated shells, organo-crystalline forms, a deck truss system fully integrating into enclosure frames, and a remarkably lean standardized parts set. However, as a product the systems suffered from the traditional problems of manufacturing proprietary modular building hardware (inventors never seem to get that, like computers and software, the market value of modular building systems is keyed to their interoperability, not their exclusivity...) and the compulsion of architects to focus on 'magazine architecture'. Sadly, these very promising systems have faded into obscurity with the infamous structure they were once used for. 

http://books.google.com/books/about/Structure_in_Nature_Is_a_Strategy_for_De.html?id=sfc2OEuE8oQC

Ring/Hoop Domes. A very unique approach to dome construction using CNC fabrication was recently developed by Swiss designers Min Chieh Chen, Dominik Zausinger and Michele Leidi for a project called Packed Pavilion exhibited at the Shanghai World Expo. A series of semi-conical cylinders in concentrically packing sizes were cut from industrial grade cardboard using a CNC cutter then bound together using simple twist-ties. The result was a quite strong structure that survived international shipping and which offered a very novel dome space, though with a rather high amount of manual labor involved. 

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ctDW6g8tT3U

Economy Container Structures. Shipping container structures are very popular today but have been someone problematic to develop in the US due to a lack of affordable metalworking services for the modification of used containers. Taking notice of the growing interest in container shelters worldwide, Chinese manufacturers have recently begun producing a standard series of knock-down container frames designed specifically for use in housing and supporting the easy mounting of foam core panel products. At about $1000 per bare frame unit, these now offer a promising low-cost modular prefab steel frame system capable of supporting quite large buildings and allowing the use of a much greater variety of cladding than traditional modded containers. They are still hampered, though, by dependence on heavy equipment and transportation. 

http://i00.i.aliimg.com/photo/v1/244251738/Container_frame.jpg

http://hz01.i.aliimg.com/img/pb/023/171/479/479171023_627.jpg

http://i00.i.aliimg.com/img/pb/261/193/479/479193261_615.jpg

So that's what I have off the top of my head. 

[nick]

Digiconsoo

I am not sure If I may have referenced this company in the group before, but just in case. I like the way this outfit is bridging the gap between today's conventional homebuilding and Digital fabrication in A E C. 

[nick]

Here is one from a Dutch designer. Love the hinged soffit over hang. 50 digital wood joints represented well.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-L5DjquzXzc

DesignBoom

[Brad Jensen]

Beautiful looking design. 

Sorry, but there is no way in heck that they cut that in 5.5 hrs.