Embracing new nuclear, advanced heat solutions as part of our climate crisis toolkit presents a similarly transformative opportunity.. Bryden Wood is delighted to be part of the Repowering Coal project, and to be providing the MMC design solution that will enable the work to be delivered at the necessary scale.

The rapid pace of change in digitisation has created a great opportunity to integrate DfMA into projects in ways not previously possible.Data contained within digital objects can be used to explore, test and validate construction methods from the earliest project stages..

The role of the designer is evolving to include the creation and maintenance of digital assets with great potential value.Parties both within and outside the construction industry are developing new digital innovations to expand the MMC toolkit and realise this value.. A summary of key DfMA principles.I have tried to summarise the above in simple terms to illustrate how the DfMA landscape can be viewed in the context of the industry.. DfMA is a design approach that considers ways to efficiently construct buildings by manufacturing and assembling their constituent parts..

Designers apply DfMA by considering, evaluating and applying the toolkit of innovations collectively referred to as MMC..The MMC toolkit includes a range of systems, components and material and process innovations including off-site and site-based solutions.

New MMC innovations are developed all the time.. Design to Value: moving forward with DfMA.

As designers we at Bryden Wood believe strongly in the DfMA approach and have used it successfully on many projects to achieve considerable benefits.. We advocate for any designer of buildings to apply a DfMA approach by considering efficient construction methods to leverage the benefits of manufacturing and assembly, and design with them in mind from the earliest stage.. Getting started with DfMA is the hardest part and too big a topic to discuss in detail here but a great first step is to keep up to date with MMC innovations and think about how those innovations can be used to deliver better project outcomes.. Clients can support greater uptake of DfMA by demanding the best value project outcomes to ensure a benefit-driven approach to MMC adoption is applied on their projects.. As the MMC toolkit grows it becomes more and more powerful.Through evaluation of embodied carbon, we’ve been able to offer lower carbon concrete mixes, tested before being transferred.

In this case, Easispace put temperature sensors in the concrete, with mobile phone alerts indicating when the concrete became strong enough to strike the shuttering.This process of fine tuning the concrete enables it to be kept as low-carbon as possible, optimising it for strength, while still keeping the building process as quick as possible.

It’s a good example of the improvements made viable with prototyping, which aren’t achievable when a project is live on-site for the first time.This transformational process of on-going refinement and progress isn’t possible in traditional construction, where every building is bespoke.