Bringing the digital age to the construction site has been a long and slow journey and the emergence of global centres of innovation are aiming to accelerate that effort.
The Construction Research Centre (CRC) at Algonquin College in Ottawa is part of a trend looking to cultivate and nurture innovative technologies and practices in an incubator environment, bringing together academic researchers and those working in the field.
As Pablo Medina Villanueva, a researcher at the CRC, explains, it’s all about developing best practices and networking ideas locally, nationally and globally.
“We’ve engaged with other local institutions to collaborate and develop synergies in mutual areas of development,” he says. “So, currently, we are working in partnership with Carleton University’s Immersive Media Studio lab to share knowledge and best practices in laser scanning, Building Information Modeling (BIM) and other digital measurement techniques, for example.”
Other collaborations include discussions with La Cite Collegiale to share applied research project practices and develop partnership and service sharing programs.
He says the CRC also wants to connect with other Ontario colleges and with colleges across Canada. Ultimately, they want to go global, connecting and partnering with other nations.
“We have hosted several delegations from countries including Vietnam, Nigeria, Iraq, Indonesia, Belgium, to present our capabilities in research in the interest in developing international partnerships for research and training,” he says.
It’s a similar story at the Construction Scotland Innovation Centre, says Rohan Bush, head of public partnerships and future workforce.
We’re interested in how these digital forms engage the industry
— Pablo Medina Villanueva
Algonquin College Construction Research Centre
After their initial five-year phase of start-up funding they’re planning the second phase to be more focused on specific, broader based projects to meet demand in the industry.
“At first, we were open to anyone with an idea,” she says. “We weren’t picky.”
Some of those collaborations were on too small a scale and so the plan now is to go bigger and have more impact.
Mitigating risk remains one of the big challenges, just as it is in Canada. Contractors and engineers are reluctant to employ innovative technologies and techniques for fear they might compromise the life cycle of the structure.
That’s where governments can play a role too, she says, investing in those technologies for their own projects to prove it, thereby assuming that unknown risk factor.
As such, educating building owners as to what’s possible remains high on their list of activities as part of a bottom down strategy coupled with a bottom up approach engaging construction stakeholders on the ground.
Medina Villanueva agrees, saying the CRC has spent the last five years doing the same thing, identifying industry needs and opportunities.
“The trends in industry needs are mostly linked to using digital information associated with architecture, operations and management and fabrication,” he says. “And this led to research in BIM, digital fabrication and virtual and augmented reality.”
Next the focus will be on transforming the CRC into a leader in these areas.
“We’re interested in how these digital forms engage the industry, and also how they affect the academic and social structures,” he says. “For example, we study prefabrication, not to improve quality but as an integral part of design teaching in academia and how unique design can influence social integration.”
Last summer, Medina Villanueva says, the CRC wrapped up the concept design for Ottawa’s first Christmas and Winter Market. It uses prefabricated, insulated wooden panels to build a temporary structure.
“It demonstrates prefabrication as an element to affect the design process rather than merely one more tool to improve construction efficiency,” he says.
“The reaction was encouraging, and we hope it continues and motivates the city to recognize the value in building it for the community to experience.”
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