Bartlett Toolkit Enables Collaborative Construction in Local Communities

Through a range of new research grants worth £1m the Transforming Construction Network Plus (N+) has brought together experts to tackle the most pressing problems across the digital, energy, construction and manufacturing space.

Mollie Claypool, co-director of the school’s Design Computation Lab, alongside Senior Research Fellow in Public Engagement Claire McAndrew and Melissa Mean from the Knowle West Media Centre have been awarded a grant for their latest project, providing a ‘Toolkit for Collaborative Construction’ to local communities.

A Toolkit for Collaborative Construction: 
A Values-Centred Approach to AR and MMC Systems for Housing

Modern Methods of Construction (MMC) in housing are currently displacing local jobs and reducing the opportunity for local investment. This toolkit will enable access to MMC products through a values-centred approach to collaboration with local communities. Computer Numerical Control (CNC) machines will be used to produce prefabricated timber elements, and AR software to instruct design, fabrication and assembly of a 37sqm housing prototype. The prototpye will be constructed in Knowle West, Bristol this summer, using the Design Computation Lab's own discrete, modular housing system.

“We are delighted at the response from the academic community and their partners from industry. These projects have great potential to contribute to academic thinking about how we design, build and operate buildings and we are very much looking forward to supporting these excellent ideas.

– Professor Jacqueline Glass, N+ Principal Investigator

The Toolkit for Collaborative Construction will launch in September 2020. 

More information

Transforming Construction Network Plus (N+) 
N+ is a joint initiative between The Bartlett Faculty of the Built Environment, Imperial College London and WMG University of Warwick, funded by UK Research and Innovation through the Industrial Strategy Challenge Fund.

Design Computation Lab
The Design Computation Lab is a research lab and part of the school’s B-Pro community, led by practitioners and researchers from Architectural Design MArch and Architectural Computation MSc/MRes. The Lab is co-directed by Mollie Claypool, Manuel Jimenez Garcia, Gilles Retsin and Vicente Soler, and supported by their design and research team (Kevin Saey, Clara Jaschke, Tomas Tvarijonas, Nikolaos Tsikinis and Danai Parissi) who will contribute to the project. 

Image: Home-Office, AUAR/Design Computation Lab, The Building Centre, 2019 © NAARO