MORE THAN JUST A BOOK...

This year’s prefabAUS Conference from 11 to 13 September is an apt moment in which to officially launch the Handbook for the Design of Modular Structures and practical applications, which in an earlier iteration was known as the Model Code for the Design of Modular Structures.

The handbook will be formally presented at the conference by its instigator, James Murray-Parkes, who co-authored it with Dr. Yu Bai, Director of International Affairs at the Monash University Faculty of Engineering, specialising in material science.

“We’re extremely proud of what we’ve achieved with the handbook,” says Murray-Parkes. “It’s currently being peer reviewed globally and has the full support of, for example, The Council of Tall Buildings and Urban Habitat in Chicago, which has endorsed this document as the best of its kind ever to be produced.”

“We’re extremely proud of what we’ve achieved with the handbook. It’s currently being peer reviewed globally and has the full support of, for example, The Council of Tall Buildings and Urban Habitat in Chicago, which has endorsed this document as the best of its kind ever to be produced.” James Murray-Parkes – Co-founder – Modular Construction Codes Board.

There are 50 hard copy first editions of the handbook already published while 2,500 digital copies of the second edition will also be available for distribution on USB, confirms Murray-Parkes. A third edition is in the works for a 2018 release, and the board is committed to regular updates of the document as needed in future.

In addition to launching at the prefabAUS Conference in Australia, the handbook will also be released in North America, Britain + Europe, Singapore + Hong Kong and China before 2017 is out.

“The Handbook is already having a massive impact on the industry, not just in Australia, but globally,” confirms Murray-Parkes.

“It’s designed as a truly practical and easy to use guide for practitioners in the modular space and is full of workable solutions to the typical challenges that might be encountered. There are also several sections of the handbook that will be totally new, including detailed data on how to design and calculate for progressive collapse and differential shortening; there are comprehensive tables of formulae that mean a designer can take differential shortening into account at the inception stage of design.”

“As just one example of the handbook’s practical value to the industry, banks and insurance companies we’ve shown it to have already indicated that it looks set to provide significant peace of mind in terms of fostering lending for modular projects.”

“Totalling over 200 pages including data tables and explanatory diagrams, this is a truly all-encompassing guide for engineers, architects, designers and fabricators in the modular space. It’s the result of extensive testing of data to ensure everything in it stands up to scrutiny.”

“And while my name and Dr Yu Bai’s name are on the front of the Handbook, we’ve also worked with some of the best minds in the business to bring it together: Angus McFarlane, Structural Engineering Leader at Laing O’Rourke and the man behind the world’s tallest tower, Burj Khalifa Tower; Brendon McNiven, Principal at Arup, George Konstandakos, former CEO of The National Transport Authority and John Lucchetti – Hydraulic and Fire Protection Section Manager, Principal at Wood & Grieve Engineers. We owe a huge debt to all of them for their contribution.”

James Murray-Parkes is the instigator and co-founder of the Modular Construction Codes Board (MCCB) based at Monash University. Professor of Practice in the Faculty of Engineering at Monash University and head of the Brookfield Multiplex Engineering Innovations Group, He is widely regarded as a world leader in high load structural connection design. ■