Prefabricated Modular Housing Case Studies
Prefabricated modular housing combines factory prefabrication with on-site assembly, significantly improving construction efficiency and reducing environmental impact. Below are typical case studies:
1. Guangdong Shenzhen Affordable Housing Project: Modular Practice in High-Density Residential Buildings
This project comprises five residential towers nearly 100 meters tall, assembled from 6,028 concrete modules. Taking a 70-square-meter two-bedroom unit as an example, its main structure is formed by joining two half-modules on-site, with integrated piping, walls, and other basic finishes inside the modules. Compared to traditional construction methods, the project duration was shortened from 2.5-3 years to 1 year, and on-site labor was reduced by approximately 50%. Its core advantage lies in factory standardized production: Modules undergo over 80% of the processes, such as concrete pouring and piping embedding, in the factory, requiring only steel bar tying and concrete pouring at module connection points on-site, greatly reducing construction complexity. Additionally, modular construction significantly reduces on-site noise, dust, and construction waste, alleviating disturbances to surrounding residents from traditional construction while lowering transportation costs—modules are delivered in batches using standardized transport vehicles, avoiding traffic congestion caused by material stacking.
2. Zhangzhou Nuclear Power Unit 4: Modular Innovation in Industrial Construction
In 2026, Zhangzhou Nuclear Power Unit 4 adopted prefabricated concrete module construction techniques, with its first lifted module weighing 454.289 tons, demonstrating the application potential of modular technology in large-scale industrial buildings. Nuclear power projects have extremely high structural safety requirements, and prefabricated modules must pass rigorous quality inspections (such as concrete strength and steel bar spacing) and seismic simulation tests to ensure compliance with nuclear safety standards. After being fully poured in the factory, modules are lifted to designated positions using large cranes, with only bolt connections or welding required on-site between modules. This technique not only shortens the critical path duration of nuclear power construction but also reduces construction risks by minimizing high-altitude work. For example, traditional steel bar tying in nuclear power reactor buildings takes several months, whereas modular construction can compress this process to a few weeks while avoiding safety hazards such as sparks from on-site welding.
Technical Commonalities: Standardization and Industrialization Drive Efficiency Improvements
Both cases reflect the core logic of modular housing: replacing on-site manual work with factory industrialized production. The prefabrication accuracy of concrete modules can reach the millimeter level, far exceeding the centimeter-level errors of on-site construction, thereby improving overall building quality. Moreover, modular construction supports parallel operations—factories can simultaneously produce multiple modules while on-site assembly proceeds, further compressing the total project duration. With the popularization of BIM (Building Information Modeling) technology, full-process digital management of module design, production, and installation has become possible, laying a technological foundation for large-scale adoption.
