Architecture

Amazing video shows 10-story high-rise built in a day

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The Broad Group says that its prefabricated building system can be used to make residential high-rises, dormitories, hotels, hospitals, and more
Broad Group
This high-rise building was assembled in 28 hours and 45 minutes in Changsha, China, using prefabricated building modules
Broad Group
The Broad Group says that its prefabricated building system can be used to make residential high-rises, dormitories, hotels, hospitals, and more
Broad Group

Prefabricated buildings are designed to be put together very quickly – that's a big part of their appeal, after all. However, you'd be hard-pressed to find a building that goes up as quickly as this recently completed 10-story residential high-rise by China's Broad Group, which was assembled in just over a single day – or 28 hours and 45 minutes, to be exact.

The high-rise was constructed using Broad Group's Living Building prefabricated construction system. One of the most appealing things about this system is that each building module has the same dimensions as a shipping container when folded, making it very easy to transport it pretty much anywhere in the world using existing shipping methods.

Each module is prefabricated in a factory and consists of a primarily stainless steel structure that includes wiring, insulation, glazing and ventilation systems (the Broad Group is also a ventilation specialist). So, to put it simply, the basic idea is that you'd take a group of these container-sized modules to a building site and stack them as required, bolting them into place. They're then connected to power and water, and ready to use.

Of course, as you can see in the video below, for this project Broad Group used a small army of builders and at least three cranes to speed things up and get the job done in that headline-grabbing timeframe, but it's still a remarkable achievement and a standard site with a typical number of builders should see a building go up very quickly using the same system, too.

This high-rise building was assembled in 28 hours and 45 minutes in Changsha, China, using prefabricated building modules
Broad Group

Broad Group says that its prefab setup is very durable, earthquake-resistant, and can be dismantled and moved if needed. The firm also says it can be used to make residential high-rises, dormitories, hotels, hospitals, and more.

Even more ambitiously, the firm reckons that the system could be used to build high-rises as tall as 200 stories. To put that into perspective, the world's tallest building, the Burj Khalifa, has a mere 163 floors. We've no word on pricing, but Treehugger reports that you can buy an entire 20-unit apartment block for under US$3 million, not including shipping – which is a steal.

Take a look at this amazing project rise by checking out the video below.

Source: Broad Group

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14 comments
clay
I used to be impressed by these "feats" however, time to build is not nearly as important as safety and quality.

These attributes are not often in conjunction with each other.
FB36
Maybe the main reason why we have a huge (cheap) housing problem, pretty much everywhere in the world, all because some people think/insist every building needs to have a unique design! & so, each building (project) designed/build from scratch & cost a lot & take a long time to build!
Can you imagine how much each car would cost & how long would take to produce, if each & every car had to have a fully custom unique design?
(& who exactly chooses where to live based on how the building looks?)
Christian Lassen
Something inside me hates this, but is impressed with it all the same. It's really neat technology and process and very cool. But, still, really unsettling.
aki009
That's pretty impressive. However it's pretty much certain they didn't build the foundation in that same time period, and things like elevators came in later, too.

I figure that perhaps the best thing from a Chinese perspective is that it greatly reduces opportunities for tofu construction (Google that if you don't know what it is). But I still wouldn't trust that structure beyond some reasonable limit, such as the 10 stories that they had in the video.
paul314
So do all of those plumbing, ventilation and electrical connections just plug together automatically as you assemble things, or is there the usual small army of skilled trades making the final connections? I don't know which alternative worries me more.

vince
It would be cool if they could build a residential home based on a couple of foldout shipping sized containers. Deliver to site, unfold connect, done.
Lamar Havard
This must be how China is building cities all over Africa.
Skipjack
Chinese can build a highrise in 24 hours.
Americans can't fix up 200 yards of road in 5 weeks...
Johannes
Very impressive to see the floors folding out of the "container" walls, and similarly the balconies. That the structure is made from stainless steel is even more remarkable. Time to construct is definitely attractive, as a builder that can get to occupancy quicker gets paid sooner, and can move on to the next building.
MarkHughes4096
The SEISMIC II system does the same thing but for schools. Each module is container sized and they are joined by corner connectors. They are then just stacked up to create a large building quite quickly. Since SEISMIC II is a standard that will mean anyone can build these containers and they should all fit together. So you could have multiple factories working on one building or later it will be easier to extend the building with new modules that fit. Scroll down on that page to see an example... https://blacc.co/our-projects/seismic/