Project: Dalton Village
Submission Extract: In 2020, COVID struck the construction sector in Australia and around the globe with challenges such as housing shortages, low productivity, tight labour markets, reduced number of workers, price inflations and high demand for social infrastructure space. As of today, these socio-economical disruptions impact how the construction industry operates and new methods of working have emerged as solutions such as offsite manufacturing, prefabrication, DfMA and LEAN manufacturing. The Dalton Village, situated in Kelvin Grove Urban Village explores and demonstrates these innovative methods with the use of ILP (Interlocking Panels), durable and lightweight prefabricated panels. Using a smart interlocking system to connect panels together, ILPs can be installed on site easily and rapidly, saving time and costs. The Dalton Village, previously known as the TAFE Hall of Residence, displays adaptive re-use of heritage buildings by renowned Queensland architect John Dalton. With the practice of adaptive re-use of the heritage buildings, a sense of community and a village like atmosphere that was once active within the site will be resurrected with new student accommodation apartments and build-to-rent programs along with a vibrant greengrocer and study café.
