Prefabricated House

Prefabricated houses, also known as prefabricated modular buildings, refer to a form of construction where building components are industrially produced and assembled on-site.

Main Types and Technologies

The main types of prefabricated houses include panel-assembled, box-assembled, and frame-assembled structures. The technologies encompass prefabricated concrete structures and steel structures, with components such as beams, slabs, walls, and columns being prefabricated products. Among them, modular construction represents a higher level of integration, where buildings are broken down into independent modules, manufactured in factories, and then transported to the site for assembly.

Advantages and Characteristics

Prefabricated houses offer significant advantages such as shortened construction periods and reduced pollution. For example, some affordable housing projects have utilized prefabrication technology to shorten the completion and delivery time from 2.5-3 years to 1 year, reducing on-site labor by approximately 50%. At the same time, it significantly reduces noise, dust, construction waste, and traffic congestion at the construction site, which are nuisance factors for residents.

Development History

Prefabricated concrete technology in China began in the 1950s and was initially applied to factory and residential construction. In the 1970s, driven by the policy of "industrialization, standardization, and mechanization" in construction, technical systems such as large-panel structures and box structures were formed. In the mid-1980s, the technology stagnated due to cost and quality issues but has since recovered in the 21st century due to its production efficiency and environmental advantages. Companies like Vanke Group have developed prefabricated shear wall residential structural systems and applied prefabricated frame technology in projects, such as the Nanjing Jindi Yufang project, which adopted a prestressed prefabricated concrete assembled integral frame structural system.

Comparison of Typical Types

• Panel-assembled: With prefabricated wall panels and floor slabs as the core components, it can expand usable area but is limited by design flexibility.
• Box-assembled: By combining prefabricated functional units, construction speed increases by 50%-70%, but it requires higher transportation and lifting equipment.

Practical Cases

The construction process of prefabricated houses in rural South Korea includes leveling the foundation, pouring the cushion layer, installing foundation piles and splicing beams, backfilling soil, and pouring the foundation. The Zhongjian Hailong Intelligent Construction Industrial Park in Shenzhen, Guangdong, adopts a parallel operation mode, where components such as ceilings and walls are produced in layers in the factory and then assembled. Combined with automated vertical warehouses and intelligent production lines, the construction period is shortened by more than 60%, and 20,000-30,000 modules can be delivered annually.