Experts in Prefabricated and Modular Construction
Prefabricated and modular construction are often stigmatized as low-end and mass-produced modes of construction. Swinerton, however, is making great strides in changing this perception. With over 30 such projects successfully completed or currently in progress, this depth of experience positions us as experts as demand continues to grow sharply.
Swinerton constantly seeks opportunities to demonstrate how the quality and subsequent benefits of prefabricated and modular construction can benefit our clients’ budget and schedule. With a recession likely looming in the near future, this will be of critical importance. Prefabrication can reduce construction costs due to the improved reliability of the construction process, its controlled environment, and reduced installation durations. Certain scopes can also be run concurrently with other construction activities to further accelerate the schedule.
Prefabrication increases the quality of construction, as it provides a more reliable finished level for each component. Materials are built utilizing machine precision, ensuring uniformity to specified codes and standards. Prefabrication also helps address the challenges that come from a shortage of skilled craftspeople as it requires less labor in the field.
The controlled environment of the prefabrication process results in safer working conditions compared to onsite construction without competing trades, debris, and material waste in the field. It also increases safety when prefabricated systems and modular units arrive in the field for assembly. Lowering the fall risk for workers, materials, and equipment protects field teams, the public, and surrounding structures.
Depending on each client’s needs, Swinerton’s use of prefabricated and modular construction varies significantly. The five-story Weingart 11010 Santa Monica Boulevard Affordable Housing Development in Los Angeles, CA, fully utilizes modular construction. The 51 modular units were prefabricated at an offsite facility 80 miles from the project site. As direct proof of the schedule benefits, all units were set by crane in just 10 days as the building elevation grew from Level 1 to Level 5.
Swinerton’s DignityMoves Alameda Village project in Northern California is utilizing similar modular methods, but to a lesser extent per client needs. The transitional housing community will feature 47 one-bedroom units, five of which will be for at-risk and homeless transitional-age youth. The two-story building utilizes prefabricated Factory_OS modular units pre-approved by the California Department of Housing and Community Development.
Incorporating prefabricated materials in a variety of scopes also helps clients achieve their unique design goals. In late 2021, Swinerton completed a new 14-story dual-branded Marriott Courtyard-Element Hotel in Atlanta with 282 guestrooms. Due to the unique combination of two different hotel brands within a single structure, the client opted for prefabricated construction. By combining the elements of a traditional concrete structure and the prefabricated structural cold-formed metal framing bearing walls, both hotel brand standards were integrated into a single unit.
Swinerton is also meeting similar design goals for a client’s new three-story, 60,000-square-foot medical office building in Los Angeles. Atypical of most projects, Swinerton’s self-perform team is utilizing prefabrication to deliver the fully panelized interior wall framing to the site, with all partial height wall partitions prefabricated. In conjunction with panelized interior framing, the project utilizes ConXtech structural steel, a fully bolted steel system that requires no welding and strengthens the prefabricated elements. The connections can immediately be bolted together once the material arrives onsite, which in turn increases budget and schedule efficiencies.
As further evidence of our expertise, Swinerton owns a full-service construction prefabrication facility in Riverside, CA. Spanning three acres, the facility provides in-house formwork fabrication for wall, deck, column, and specialty forms. Owning and fabricating our formwork mitigates the unknowns of market availability and the potential lack of material resources and labor due to market demand.
As new opportunities continue to arise, Swinerton is excited to be at the forefront of prefabricated and modular construction. We look forward to demonstrating that it is viable and replicable for projects in all markets and how it can benefit each client’s unique budget, schedule, and design goals.
