It is the next border for building a house and the payment is enormous, but the transition is difficult

Modern construction methods could accelerate how Australia builds houses. What does it take to the Turbo Charge industry?

On August 20, 2025, the NSW chapter of the Property Council of Australia gathered a team of pioneers to discuss how innovations in construction – and in particular “modern construction methods” – have the potential to close the productivity gap in the construction system more efficiently.

Caryn Kakas, head of the housing strategy at Anz; Leah -Singer Director of Construction Consultancy Development; Matthew Aitchison, CEO of Building 4.0 CRC; And Sarah Kay, CEO of the architecture company Woods Bagot, shared her thoughts about the potential of modern construction methods in a discussion that was moderated by the director of Economics and Property of Urbis, Clinton Ostwald.

One thing that they all agreed on is that the sector needs a new name for the beginning.

What are the new methods and will you save time?

“Modern methods of construction” or “MMC” generally refer to a way to build a building outside the “traditional” technology. This includes preparations, modular apartments, production outside the location and the use of 3D printing and robotics.

According to Ms. Singer, this Catch-All semester is more of a point.

“There is a fusion of thinking that the construction of MMC or outside the location automatically offers you time and cost advantages,” she said.

This is not the case, and in fact the production outside of the location is hardly “new” in many ways, if one believes that the Sydney Opera House contained an essential component outside the location in the production of its legendary cladding system.

“But nobody ever quotes [the Sydney Opera House] With regard to time and cost advantages, ”remarked Ms. Singer.

When Ms. Singer was exceeded in today's conversation, especially because of his potential to increase productivity, he explained that “what is really discussed is mass production”.

However, she sees that it is not enough to only use these new construction methods. It is How They are used that have the potential to save time and money.

“I cannot emphasize this enough if you want time and cost advantages, you need standardization and repeatability,” she said.

Change the way we think about design

Ms. Singer's comment was reproduced in the findings of Ms. Kay, who shared her experiences from an architectural point of view and argued that progress in the sector really requires a transformation of thinking in the draft of buildings.

She spoke out for a design process that divides individual elements of a build into a “kit of parts”.

“It's really about designing things that design things with materials using components or products.”

Ms. Kay explained that at Woods Bagot you followed this approach during a project for the school infrastructure in New South Wales, where you worked to “design a kit-of parts kit that creates a school and then in the design of these components”.

It may just appear, but Ms. Kay explained that it was very different from traditional thinking “designing a building made of materials”.

Here the scale of the project enabled repeatability and the associated savings. But when it comes to the real estate market, the little nature of every house has a hurdle.

The biggest challenge

While the sector is often in its infancy, there has been a modular construction and outside the location for some time (see: Sydney Opera House Cladding). What gives the sector of its youthful association is that Australians do not see these methods play on a scale.

And that is mainly not. The industry remains challenged by the ability to scale.

According to Mr. Aitchison, the most common need that he hears from players in the room is that companies need to be needed urgently: “Number one, pipeline. Two, pipeline. And three, a little more pipeline”.

Essentially, they do not have the constant demand to build reliably.

In his view, the most important way could help the governments by doing what he calls “demanding”. So “to move in all of their discrete pipelines to create a larger pipeline in which this industry can immerse themselves”.

According to Ms. Kay, it is a room in which she would also take part in the private sector.

“The pipeline of private sectors would have an enormous influence, and there is no that, then there is no competitive advantage or that [volume builders] Would build the same house, we talk about a “kit of parts” again. There are components that do not have to be different, and therefore it could think what these components are and the demand for them aggregated, I could think that they could have the same effects. ”

Bathroom pods, inner wall systems and stairs are some examples of what they could be, but the possibilities are endless.

When it comes to the future, it is no low task to bring governments, private companies and other interest groups together to change the way the disposal of buildings is tackled.

Ms. Kay suggested that on an individual level a small step of every company in the industry could make a major contribution to the transition to a new type of structure.

“If you are a developer or a designer or a building contractor, choose a thing that you can change from a combination of shops and materials for buying as a product.

Would you like to learn more about building a house in Australia? Take a look at our “Dedized New Homes” section.