Digital builds: The technology taking construction to the next level

According to Andrew Watts, CEO of engineering technology firm Newtecnic, this trend is part of a new era of digital construction where robots and drones will become commonplace on site. Digitalisation has penetrated virtually every aspect of design and engineering, but in many ways physical construction itself has remained a stubbornly analogue process, centuries of accumulated human expertise resisting the allure of ones and zeroes, and human hands still doing much of the heavy lifting. Newtecnic’s Construction Labs concept is aiming to change that, merging modular building with on-site construction to deliver perfect finishes on major public buildings.      

“We’re using Construction Labs to realise complex projects,” Watts told The Engineer. “Its specific use is in the construction of facades and applications and connections for primary structures.”

Modular techniques enable on-site speed for flat-pack buildings where function is essentially the only consideration. But for the grandest buildings that the public really engage with, form is also paramount, and modular techniques in isolation cannot bring the required finesse. According to Watts, contractors on high-profile, complex projects share the view that greater flexibility is required, with some parts designed and fabricated locally based on specifications derived from what has already been built.