Industry invited to shape Melbourne Polytechnic’s MMC showcase building

Industry stakeholders are being invited to help develop the functional brief for a proposed Modern Methods of Construction (MMC) Showcase Building at Melbourne Polytechnic’s Heidelberg campus.

The survey, launched as part of the Future of Housing Construction Centre of Excellence, is seeking input before the facility is built on the capabilities, infrastructure, learning experiences and participation models that would provide the greatest long-term value to industry and the wider sector.

The proposed building is intended to become a hands-on environment where students, industry participants and researchers can explore prefabrication, advanced manufacturing, digital construction and emerging building technologies.

Gabriel Solorzano Torres, Enterprise Executive at Melbourne Polytechnic and lead for the Future of Housing Construction Centre of Excellence, said the consultation was designed to ensure industry helped shape the facility from an early stage.

“The construction industry is changing, and our skills and training infrastructure need to change with it,” Solorzano Torres said.

“As we develop the Future of Housing Construction Centre of Excellence, one of our priorities has been to ensure that industry is not simply consulted at the end of the process, but helps shape what we build, what capabilities we develop and how the Centre operates.”

Solorzano Torres said the planned Showcase Building would bring industry, education and research together around technologies and practices aimed at improving construction productivity, building workforce capability and supporting the move towards more modern approaches to design, manufacturing and construction.

However, he said the infrastructure needed to be based on demonstrated industry requirements.

“New infrastructure only creates value if it responds to genuine industry need. That is why we are asking industry and sector partners to help shape the functional brief now, before the facility is built.”

Melbourne Polytechnic is seeking responses from people working across construction, manufacturing, design, technology, education and workforce development.

The institution said the facility is intended to become Victoria’s leading demonstration and education facility for MMC, as well as a national destination for learning, innovation and collaboration.

Feedback collected through the survey will help determine what the building needs to accommodate and how industry and other stakeholders could participate in the Centre over the longer term.

Find the Future of Housing Construction Centre of Excellence survey HERE