CTSR new technology promises deficit reduction with 70% drop in construction time
A fast-paced building technology which holds promise to produce houses at a speed 70 percent faster than the traditional building method has been introduced into Nigerian building industry as an initiative to support efforts at bridging the housing deficit in the country estimated at 17 million units.
The automated precast concrete technology, renowned globally for speedy housing construction, was unveiled at the just concluded Lagos Architects Forum by CTSR Group, a Nigerian company with franchise from the owners of the technology, Broad Homes Industrial International Co Limited—a subsidiary of Broad Homes Industrial Co. Limited.
Presenting the technology, Funke Otti, CTSR Group’s CEO, explained that the automated precast technology was a one-stop shop for housing solutions covering research and development, design, construction, etc.
“This technology provides factory-made sustainable buildings, featuring reinforced concrete precasting and is five times more efficient with its energy saving technology”, Otti said, explaining that the technology would deliver advantages that would include quality through the standard manufacturing and assembling processes, predictable schedule and on-time delivery which would result in cost savings by reducing market risks and variables.
The technology, she said, was originally from Germany and that CTSR’s Chinese technical partners simplified the process and made it more affordable, adding that her company intended to revolutionalise housing construction and, to do this, they would initiate a new city development with affordable high-rise apartment buildings.
According to her, the technology could enable them go up to 30 floors and save up to 70 per cent of construction time when compared to the traditional construction processes.
Setting up the factory , she said, was capital intensive but the cost of not adopting the technology, which has been widely adopted in other parts of the world, could be counter-productive to the set goals.
“The initial stake is quite high but we have decided to take the bull by the horn. We believe we need to develop our people and add value to the built environment. This is the reason we have decided to set up a factory here, which is currently under construction”, she said, explaining that it was possible to combine the technology with the traditional building methods when necessary.
The company, she said, could build in any part of the country and that they would focus on any place where there was a need for housing, particularly high-rise buildings for now, explaining that “we are not saying no to single dwellings but we believe it is cheaper to do multi-floors like the 1004 Estate in Victoria Island because of the cost of land and infrastructure.
“We are looking at doing 2,000 to 4,000 housing units that are well-planned with all the green areas, and provision for fire-fighting so that, if you have any emergency, you can do something while waiting for the fire service.”
Prospective buyers, she said, would have access to good mortgage that would enable them pay for the homes over a long period of time and a good maintenance system will be adopted for the new cities to be developed by the company.
CHUKA UROKO