Gan chosen for a 3D housing project
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Six triplex buildings will be built in Gananoque next year, thanks to an international competition using robots and automation.
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The city was chosen as the site of the first and largest 3D printed district in Canada, born out of the Marco Polo 100 Digital Build Challenge, the largest construction technological innovation in North America.
“What we’re trying to do is solve the problem of how to make housing more affordable,” said Nhung Nguyen, vice president of development at Horizon Legacy.
It is hoped that construction can begin in the spring or fall of 2022, and each building will be designed by one of the six teams that took part in the Challenge. Each team will work with local Ontario experts, including architects, technology experts and builders, to ensure plans meet local building standards. The buildings themselves will be constructed by experts provided by Horizon Legacy.
Nguyen said Gananoque was chosen for the project because “as a whole community and administration they were the most progressive and the most welcoming.”
Gananoque has so much to offer in terms of lifestyle, access to green spaces and it’s always affordable, and before the pandemic the city sees around half a million visitors each year, she added.
Each building will consist of one, two and three bedroom apartments, approximately 1,400 square feet on two floors.
The location of the 3D printed buildings in Gananoque has not been disclosed, but Horizon Legacy plans to announce the site in the coming months.
Mayor Ted Lojko said the projects have yet to go through the Planning Advisory Committee and be approved by city council.
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The Challenge was created to solve the problem of affordable housing by asking participants to design a multi-storey building for $ 100 per square foot using new technologies and processes.
Last year, Horizon Legacy sent out an invitation worldwide, asking, “How can we build homes that are more affordable and twice as fast?” “
About 30 percent of the six buildings will be dedicated to affordable and accessible housing. Horizon Legacy will own the buildings and offer apartment rentals, but the price for each unit is unknown at this time.
“The goal of housing is to seek to reduce construction costs,” Lojko said. “If you reduce construction costs, it means people can afford to buy a house or rent a house at a reduced price. “
In Gananoque, there is a lack of affordable housing, as well as a lack of affordable rental housing, Lojko said.
The municipality does not have a definition or guidelines for affordable homes, but Horizon Legacy could follow the standard definition created by the Canada Mortgage and Housing Corporation to ensure new units will be affordable.
Another goal of the project is to encourage conversation on how to solve the problem of affordable housing using new technologies instead of government policies, Nguyen said.
“It doesn’t have to be just about government policies or interest rates, it can be the technology we have at our fingertips today,” she said.
For new construction, about 70 percent of the costs are hard construction costs that cover materials and equipment. Nguyen said land, permits, government policies and interest rates are only part of the most talked about problem.
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Using a combination of known modular and prefabricated construction techniques, buildings will be constructed off-site to reduce construction time, and assembled on-site.
Each of the six teams participating in the challenge offers a design centered around 3D printing, robotics and prefabrication or modular construction.
Horizon Legacy has offered up to $ 200,000 in cash prizes and a grand prize of a $ 10 million investment to fund the projects
More than 400 people from 60 countries have registered to participate in the first stage. On August 11, the winners of the second stage have been announced and six international teams will advance to the third stage by designing a building in Gananoque.
The teams include representatives from Canada, the Czech Republic, the Netherlands, the United States, Switzerland and Chile.
“This is a very positive thing not only for Gananoque but theoretically for all of Canada, for the housing community and hopefully to reduce construction costs at all levels,” Lojko said.