Experiences with the Design and Production of an Industrial, Flexible and Demountable (IFD) Building System

The Dutch government encourages innovative construction by subsidizing cohesive industrial, flexible and demountable building (IFD) pilot projects. Industrial building concerns the process-related aspects of production, robotization, mechanization, automation, prefabrication, communication, etc. Flexible building involves products that are made in accordance with customer’s wishes and the possibility to make adjustments when the building is in use. Finally, demountable refers to the sustainability of the building. This paper describes the experiences relating to the design and production of a demonstration project (IFD Today) for an apartment building system on the Eindhoven University of Technology campus. A housing corporation had commissioned the design of an industrial, flexible and demountable building system for flats, on an existing foundation, the surface area and floor plan of which had to be adaptable during use. The current flats do not meet present requirements as set by the government and the occupants, and renovation is too expensive. The data was obtained through participation in the design team and close production monitoring. The paper focuses on industrial building. After monitoring the design and production process, the following conclusions can be drawn: • IFD building requires co-operation and a multidisciplinary approach during the design process. Essential issues to be considered during the design process are the tasks, choice of designer, design tools and the expected result. Design meetings must also be organized. • Due to the lack of a suitable model to calculate the production, operating, renovation and demounting costs and the absence of a marketing plan, conventional designing solutions were frequently applied. • The steel structure and floor panels were mounted very quickly. This was in contrast to the outer walls, roof, fittings and finishing elements. • It is advisable to entrust one specific company with the responsibility for a number of production tasks, such as planning, making and checking the drawings, and allocating labor resources with regard to transport and safety.