{"id":32114,"date":"2026-01-27T20:01:40","date_gmt":"2026-01-27T10:01:40","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/woodcentral.com.au\/?p=32114"},"modified":"2026-01-28T09:12:27","modified_gmt":"2026-01-27T23:12:27","slug":"sweden-perfected-factory-housing-now-australia-is-finding-its-own-way","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/woodcentral.com.au\/sweden-perfected-factory-housing-now-australia-is-finding-its-own-way\/","title":{"rendered":"Sweden Perfected Factory Housing. Now Australia is Finding its Own Way"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Why do the Swedes build so many more of their homes in factories than everyone else? It\u2019s a great question, but according to U.S. modular housing expert Gary Fleisher, the premise is fundamentally flawed.<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n

And whilst Sweden is widely reported to build up to 85% of its housing using modular or factory\u2011built systems, a figure that could be much higher once components are included, the United States sits at just 3%. Fleisher believes that the number could eventually rise to 15% and 25% once the market finally accepts that housing is an industrial product.<\/em> \u201cThat would be transformational,\u201d he said. \u201cNot Swedish\u2011level, but meaningful, profitable, and scalable.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

But Sweden didn\u2019t simply choose to \u201cdo modular better,\u201d Fleisher argues. Instead, it succeeded because it spent decades reorganising housing as an industrial product, a shift driven by a national housing emergency, sky\u2011high labour costs, and harsh weather, and then reinforcing that industrialisation until it became the status quo.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cIf you want to understand Sweden\u2019s success, follow the trees,\u201d Fleisher said, noting that the Swedes invested heavily in engineered wood systems and precision manufacturing long before most U.S. builders had even heard the term \u201cpanelization.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Most of Sweden\u2019s factory\u2011built housing falls under a broader category of industrialised construction. \u201cThat includes closed wall panels, floor and roof cassettes, volumetric modules and highly standardised timber systems,\u201d he said. In Sweden, \u201cfactory\u2011built doesn\u2019t mean one thing. It means anything that can be produced indoors, repeatedly, with predictable outcomes.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\n