An Open Mind and a Commitment to Reskilling – How the Construction Industry Will Prosper

Look ahead just 20 or so years and it’s likely that the construction industry will look very different. How we design and how we create and maintain buildings will change in many ways. Some of these we could reasonably predict, some we can’t.

Visualising what a planned building will be like to use is currently difficult. Even with 3D BIM modelling the practicalities of assembly or having to access plant or services for maintenance are not always obvious.

Virtual reality opens up a completely different world of interaction with designed spaces. End users can ‘live’ the experience of being in the building so that the built environment becomes more responsive to their needs. Buildings can be made easier to construct and maintain to improve productivity and whole life costs.

3D Printing and Robotics

There will, no doubt be further innovations in robotics and 3D printing that will fairly soon become mainstream technologies. There are several robotic concrete printing machines already in existence. One claims the capability of printing a concrete house within 24 hours. A couple in France are already living in a prototype house where the walls were 3D printed 20% cheaper than a conventional build. This technology also opens up new design possibilities.

Robots are already able to lay bricks faster than a human; how long will it be before we see driverless vehicles carrying out groundworks and distributing materials around construction sites? Probably not that long.

The demand for traditional construction skills will obviously still be around for the foreseeable future. But there will be new skills needed in terms of data modelling, programming, environmental management, manufacturing process control and much more besides these.

As our industry moves towards the age of technology, digital engineering and innovation, we need the skills and mindsets to keep up with the changing world. It’s an exciting future for construction firms that keep an open mind and are prepared to invest in updating the skills of its people.

Take a look at how Osborne have utilised technology such as BIM across various projects here.