A UK technology company says it has cracked one of construction\u2019s oldest bottlenecks \u2014 the slow, labour-intensive business of building a timber frame \u2014 and the implications for housing-stressed markets around the world are hard to overlook.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Automated Architecture, or AUAR, makes portable micro-factories that produce the full wooden framing of a house \u2014 walls, floors and roofs \u2014 in 24 hours. Co-founder Mollie Claypool told CNN<\/a> the system produces timber panels more quickly, more cheaply, and more precisely than a conventional framing crew, freeing carpenters to focus on construction rather than component manufacturing.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cAutomation isn\u2019t replacing jobs,\u201d Claypool said. \u201cAutomation is filling the gap.\u201d<\/p><\/blockquote><\/figure>\n\n\n\n It\u2019s a claim the building and construction supply chain wants to stress-test \u2014 but the underlying model is sound. <\/p>\n\n\n\n Architects send building plans to AUAR\u2019s AI-powered software, the Master Builder<\/em>, which calculates how many panels are needed and exactly how much timber a developer needs to purchase. <\/p>\n\n\n\n The micro-factory \u2014 which fits inside a standard shipping container \u2014 is dispatched directly to the building site with an operator, who uses a robotic arm to measure, cut, and nail timber into panels, leaving precise openings for windows, doors, wiring, and plumbing. Contractors fit the panels by hand.<\/p>\n\n\n\n One micro-factory, Claypool says, can produce the framing for a typical house in about a day \u2014 a process she says would take a conventional timber-framing crew four weeks. On cost, AUAR claims its service runs 30% cheaper than a standard framing crew and up to 15% cheaper than ordering prefabricated panels from a large off-site factory and transporting them to the site.<\/p>\n\n\n\n