What is the Prefabricated Structure of a House?

The prefabricated structure of a house refers to a building form where components are manufactured in advance and assembled on-site, enhancing construction efficiency and quality through industrialized production of building elements.

1. Main Types

1. Prefabricated Houses (Prefabricated Assembly Buildings)
   These focus on industrialized production of building components, which are then assembled on-site to form the complete structure. Key types include:

   • Panel Assembly: Utilizes prefabricated wall panels, floor slabs, and other panels as primary load-bearing or enclosure components, connected at nodes to form an integrated structure.
   • Box Assembly: Divides building space into independent “box” units (e.g., bathroom and kitchen modules), which are internally finished in the factory and then transported to the site for assembly.
   • Frame Assembly: Employs prefabricated beams and columns to form a frame structure, with wall panels filled in after on-site installation, suitable for high-rise buildings.

2. Prefabricated Concrete Structures
   These are categorized into on-site prefabrication (production in temporary factory areas on the construction site) and factory prefabrication (production in standardized workshops). Core components include:

   • Prefabricated Floor Slabs: Such as composite floor slabs (prefabricated bottom layer + cast-in-place concrete top layer), balancing strength and construction convenience.
   • Prefabricated Beams and Columns: Utilize prestressing technology to enhance load-bearing capacity and reduce the need for on-site supports.
   • Prefabricated Walls: Such as sandwich insulation exterior walls, integrating insulation and structural layers to streamline construction processes.

3. Modular Buildings
   These involve breaking down the building into independent modules (e.g., rooms, corridors), which are structurally completed, furnished, and pre-plumbed in the factory before being transported to the site for assembly. A notable example is the public housing project in Shenzhen, Guangdong, which rapidly assembled 6,028 concrete modules, reducing the construction period to one year.

2. Construction Characteristics

1. Industrialized Production: Components are standardized and produced in factories using molds, ensuring higher quality stability than on-site casting and minimizing environmental impacts.
2. Construction Convenience: Reduces the need for formwork setup and cast-in-place concrete operations, decreasing on-site wet work by over 70% and significantly reducing dust and noise pollution.
3. Rapid Construction: Shortens construction periods by over 60% compared to traditional methods, making it particularly suitable for emergency housing or large-scale public housing projects.
4. Connection Technologies:
   • Wet Connections: Such as sleeve grouting connections and grout-anchor connections, using high-strength grout to anchor components.
   • Dry Connections: Such as embedded connectors and prestressed tendon tensioning, improving construction efficiency and enhancing seismic performance (prestressing technology reduces the transmission of seismic energy).

3. Application Scenarios

Prefabricated structures are widely used in industrial and civil buildings, bridges, roads, and hydraulic structures. Among them, modular buildings have mature applications in overseas public housing and temporary medical facilities, while in China, they are gradually being promoted in residential and school settings, reducing overall costs through standardized design.