Navigating the modular shift:: Insights from real estate developers in the Netherlands

The productivity and sustainability issues in the construction industry are leading to the consideration of systemic innovations such as modular construction. The industry's complex and fragmented structure resulting in an established practice of aligning knowledge with specific tasks impedes the adoption of such innovations. This phenomenon,...

a home in the city: testing street dwelling as an alternative in Munich's housing crisis

Challenging a predominant focus in academia on studying societal and spatial challenges primarily in the Global South or non-Western environments, this project investigates the urban fabric and hidden socio-political mechanisms of precarity in the city of Munich, Germany. Houselessness appears as the manifestation of a global housing crisis and...

Robustness of Modular Timber Buildings: An investigation into alternative load paths in volumetric timber post and beam modules

Increasing housing demand in Europe and the need to be more sustainable are asking the construction industry to leave the traditional pathways and innovate. An emerging construction method with volumetric timber modules potentially offers the solution. However little is known about the robustness of this new innovation. Therefore, this thesis...

Life cycle cost (LCC) comparison of a modular building structure with a conventional structure in healthcare

With increasing adoption of modular construction in the residential sector, its adoption in the Dutch healthcare sector is studied. Whilst the initial costs can be higher, this method of construction claims to have cost benefits over conventional construction. These are the benefits of construction speed and residual value at the end of lifespan...

Steel quantity and cost comparison of modular construction options for sea-transported pipe racks

This thesis is aimed at finding the most cost effective way of executing Modular Execution Strategy (MES) for building pipe racks of a project that an engineering company Fluor B.V. is currently executing in Kuwait. A pipe rack is a steel structure which is constructed to efficiently place and support multiple levels of pipelines for industrial...