As the future of architecture is ever-changing, evolving and continuing to shape our environment, we’re eager to absorb and exchange information about projects other companies are working on that inspire us for a stronger, structured future.

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What is the connection between building planes and apartments? The answer is in the manufacturing process.

The traditional approaches to each endeavor are opposites.

The process for planes: the manufacturing is determined first, then an architect creates a design. The process for buildings: an architect creates a design, then the manufacturing is determined.

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Architects (and twins) Chris and Bill Sharples are reversing the process and delivering a manufacturing-based approach to building apartments with their new company, Assembly. According to Chris, designing a structure and then evaluating how to build it can be costly, time-consuming, and counterproductive. Thanks to a team of architects, car designers, and aerospace engineers, including experts from NASA and Boeing, Assembly is transporting the process of airplane building to high-rise apartment building.

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Assembly decentralizes the process of building manufacturing by acquiring components from individual suppliers. They communicate with over 30 partners, such as facade panels and steel manufacturers, using its digital platform to share instructions for each section of the building.

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The components are then connected into wall panels and modules and relocated to the construction site, where they’re craned into position. The modular system can be arranged up to 300 feet high without additional support. Assembling the manufactured modules not only halves the building time of traditional construction but also completes the building at a competitive price.

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Assembly’s strategy has already been implemented in constructing the Botswana Innovation Hub, a research and educational facility in Gaborone. As their team continues to expand, Chris and Bill intend to employ their approach to mid and high-rise buildings across the world.

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The Sharples brothers’ boldness to embark on a new method is establishing a more efficient building process. The development of apartments may soon be soaring into the future alongside planes. Click here to read more about manufacturing and Assembly: https://bit.ly/39o6rI5

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