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The five-day visit examined MiC collaboration as Metricon completed two Melbourne homes using China-manufactured modules and panels.
A delegation representing Hong Kong’s modular construction sector has visited Victoria as interest grows in the potential role of offshore manufacturing in addressing Australia’s housing shortfall. (main image: Metricon’s modular house in Truganina, Melbourne, built using Signex’s China-manufactured prefabricated system.)
The Building Technology Research Institute led approximately 30 representatives from 14 organisations on the five-day visit from 13 to 17 July. The delegation included government agencies, architects, consultants, contractors, precast suppliers and modular manufacturers from Hong Kong and mainland China.
The program began with an industry exchange hosted by Invest Victoria, where participants discussed Victorian development opportunities, regulatory settings and market demand for modern methods of construction. The discussions also considered how Hong Kong’s experience with Modular Integrated Construction could inform its adoption in Australia.
Meetings were held with Multiplex, Knight Frank, DCF Property Group, the Prefab Council Australia and representatives from the Hume and Greater Dandenong councils. Site visits to student accommodation and high-rise residential projects provided the delegation with an overview of local construction practices and the constraints affecting project delivery.
The delegation also met researchers from Building 4.0 CRC at Monash University, the University of Melbourne and RMIT University. Discussions covered applied research, construction productivity, buyer perceptions and the regulatory and approval pathways needed to support wider modular adoption.
Metricon completes China-manufactured homes in Melbourne
The visit comes as Australian builders examine how established Asian manufacturing capacity could supplement local construction.
Metricon recently completed two prefabricated homes in Truganina in Melbourne’s west using a hybrid system supplied by Signex. Almost all components other than the concrete slabs were manufactured in China, including wall and floor panels, bathroom modules and pre-cut carpets.
The homes reached weatherproof lock-up in four days and were completed within 20 days, compared with Metricon’s typical construction period of about three times that length.
The system combines panelised construction with a completed bathroom module, allowing much of the building work to be undertaken in a controlled factory environment before the components are transported and assembled in Melbourne. Metricon has indicated that the approach is intended to complement conventional construction rather than replace it.
Although questions remain around cost, scale, local regulatory compliance and the balance between imported components and Australian manufacturing, the Truganina project provides a practical example of the international supply-chain model discussed during the BTRi visit.
Metricon chief executive Brad Duggan said: “We’ve just finished two completely offsite constructed homes in Truganina. 20 days from materials arriving on site to handover.”
