What is the scope of offsite manufacturing in India?
In offsite manufacturing, the planning, design, and fabrication of building elements are done in a controlled environment in a factory rather than on the construction site. The building elements are then transported to the location and put together onsite. While this process is new and slowly gaining momentum in India, it is widely practiced across Europe and america. Offsite manufacturing ensures better build quality, faster timelines, and brings in efficiency to the whole building process. It is the future of the construction industry.
In India, the commercial building market has started adopting offsite construction, however, there is a vast untapped opportunity in the real estate industry. In my opinion, the primary reasons for the currently slow acceptance of offsite manufacturing in the Indian market is lack of awareness of its benefits and the incorrect notion that prefab construction has design limitations. at KEF Infra, we are working to dispel these notions through our work, and we are slowly seeing more acceptance of this construction technique.
There is a perception that precast construction has certain design restrictions, such as making curvilinear forms. How will this impact design creativity and architectural freedom?
Precast construction does not necessarily have design restrictions. There are no limitations to what can be accomplished with precast concrete. We have several projects that we are currently executing that can counter this predetermined notion. For instance, the Infosys Gate in Mysore has a sizeable curvilinear form that is entirely being designed in precast. The notion of design restrictions is wrongly construed from the need for design optimisation. While there are no design limitations with precast concrete, one is able to optimize the cost with repeatable modular forms. There are some best practices that are recommended for precast design, which, if implemented, can bring in improved cost savings and manufacturing efficiency.
What new/unique exterior designs and colours can be created using offsite manufacturing?
There are no limitations to the exterior designs and colours using offsite. You can have a concrete structure with a brick façade that can just be applied as a cladding. You can clad precast with wood, tiles, granite, marble or just have a painted exterior. In Scandinavia, precast concrete is often just polished for flooring, which works beautifully with wood interiors. You can also have graphic finishes, as we have in the designs for the Indira canteens wherein Indira Gandhi's image has been embossed on the concrete using a technique called graphic concrete. Using this method, you can have any number of designs embossed in the concrete, eliminating the need for paint and reducing maintenance costs. Lastly, precast concrete itself can be infused with certain dyes giving the concrete a different colour.
Please describe in brief the concept of prefab/offsite technology used to construct your new villas?
We are entirely reinventing the home buying experience from design to build. Our vision is to create customised homes based on the requirements of our customers using a finite number of standardized precast elements using robotics and advanced offsite manufacturing technology. This gives our customers the best of both worlds: they can have a home designed specifically for them faster than ever before, because it is built using robotic systems in an automated precast production line, which churns out different assembly parts like wall panels, roof and floor slabs, windows and doors. These parts are then fully finished and shipped to the site where they are then assembled; thus, providing home buyers a hassle-free experience while purchasing a home.
Our concept of precast villas is for every individual to have a quality structure and to be able to customize the finishes based on his/her preferences. There are no limitations to the interiors and fittings we can provide in each home. We have empaneled leading suppliers across all tiers of interiors and fittings to be able to supply to various segments of the home buyer market.
What is the time taken to set up a prefab villa, its maintenance requirement and lifespan?
The time taken to manufacture and assemble a villa using prefab or offsite manufacturing technology is less than 120 days. We take into account that the home buyer has all the required permits in place to construct the villa. Today, in India, these villas would typically take one year to build; we can do it in quarter of the time using BIM (Design Technology, Building Information Modelling and Offsite Manufacturing).
Manufactured precast homes are more robust than traditionally built homes. The structure has a lifespan of a 100 years, which is far more than traditional construction can offer today.
What are the villas' eco-friendly features?
Green building options are offered to our customers as add-on packages. You can select from a wide selection of homes and optimize it further for sustainability. We have invested significantly in R&D for Home Energy Management System that links with air conditioning, batteries and other systems throughout the house. It allows you to control all of this with a single touch. Our homes have excellent heat insulation. We have adopted LED lighting and other energy conserving devices. The energy system is a combination of a lithium-ion battery, the home energy management system and a solar power system.
KEF's concept of precast villas is for every individual to have a quality structure that can be customized as per his/her preference as there are no limitations to the interiors and fittings that can be provided
What is the economic viability vis a vis traditional method of construction?
Today, the cost of building a villa traditionally versus prefab stands at par. However, the quality you will get for like-for-like cost will be much better in prefab versus traditional construction. also, the time taken will be 75% lesser. Overall, as more people adopt precast, better efficiencies will be achieved in the process, and in the long-run we expect to see a reduction in costs.
What building projects by KEF are in the pipeline?
Over the last three years, our focus with KEF Infra has been mainly on hospitals, hotels, schools and commercial buildings. This year, we are entering the residential market both for individual homes and apartment buildings. We believe that there is excellent potential here, especially with the new policies that have been put in place with RERa.
Manufactured precast homes are more robust than traditionally built homes. The structure has a lifespan of a 100 years, which is far more than what traditional construction can offer today.
Traditionally, home projects face vast delays, but with RERa in place there is pressure on developers to deliver projects on time and control cost overruns, both of which are the core strengths of offsite manufacturing. as first entrants in this sector, we have a leadership position and are looking to grow aggressively in the coming years.
How does KEF plan to create more awareness about precast construction in the Indian market?
Our projects and customers provide the most effective testimonials to showcase the benefits of offsite manufacturing. We also consistently invest in raising market awareness through our media interactions, participation in targeted industry conferences and creation of thought leadership. a case-study we often share as an example is the Indira Canteen project where we executed over 175 canteens and 21 kitchens in 60 days. This sort of execution and delivery has never been done in India before, and it has become a case-study on how beneficial offsite manufacturing can be in crucial infrastructure projects that can benefit thousands of people daily and help Fast Forward India.
