VBC named manufacturer for largest multifamily modular project in US history

“The game has just changed.”

That was Australian-born Volumetric Building Companies founder and chief executive Vaughan Buckley’s assessment after VBC was selected as the modular manufacturing partner for a large US military accommodation program in Texas. (main pic: VBC’s Tracy modular manufacturing facility in California.)

The US Department of the Air Force has selected construction company Layton and architecture firm Gensler to lead the recapitalisation of the Medical Education and Training Campus at Joint Base San Antonio–Fort Sam Houston.

The program will deliver five dormitory buildings, each covering approximately 37,000 square metres, to accommodate 6,000 joint-force combat medic students. The trainees include future medics, respiratory therapists, pharmacy technicians, dental assistants and other allied health personnel.

Gensler describes the development as the largest single multifamily modular project in US history. Buckley went further, describing it as “the single largest modular project in history”.

VBC will manufacture every module for the project, working with a network of US component suppliers. The modules are expected to leave the factory approximately 95 per cent complete before being transported to the site.

Buckley said the program would comprise approximately 3,000 living units and represent more than USD $1 billion in construction work. US media has reported an anticipated value of more than USD $1.4 billion, equivalent to approximately AUD $2 billion at current exchange rates, although the Department of the Air Force has not publicly stated the contract value.

“This program represents over a billion dollars in construction value and will be the single largest modular project in history,” Buckley said.

Factory production supports 24-month program
The delivery model combines an Other Transaction Authority agreement with progressive design-build procurement, bringing the contractor and design team into the program early.

According to the Department of the Air Force, industrialised offsite manufacturing is expected to reduce the previously planned construction program by approximately 70 per cent and lower overall project costs by an anticipated 20 per cent. Completion is targeted within 24 months.

Gensler said standardised dormitory rooms were well suited to factory production. Manufacturing can begin while foundations and other site works are underway, with modules expected to be installed at a rate of up to 20 bedrooms per crane each day.

“This is not a pilot program or demonstration project,” Buckley said.

“This is the hard-earned conclusion to an intense multi-year federal government effort to look hard at how they build and pay for housing for the people who serve this country.

“And the answer was clear. The Department of War chose industrialised construction, at scale.”

VBC’s international expansion
Buckley, who grew up in Geelong, moved to the United States at 18 after studying international hotel management. He initially worked at Philadelphia’s Park Hyatt before moving into construction and establishing Vaughan Buckley Construction in 2009.

That business subsequently developed into Philadelphia-headquartered Volumetric Building Companies, combining design, manufacturing, general contracting and building delivery.

“Seventeen years. That’s how long VBC has been learning and growing, creating proof points to stretch how we can represent the industry,” Buckley said.

“Those lessons were well-fought and hard-learned, and there’s no shortcut to being the natural fit for something of this size.

“You can only earn it by doing, and I’m so proud of our team for accomplishing that through the production of nearly 10,000 modules in more than a dozen countries around the world.”

VBC’s expansion has included the USD $25 million acquisition of assets from failed construction technology company Katerra in 2021, including its approximately 55,700-square-metre factory in Tracy, California.

VBC subsequently combined with Polish steel modular and furniture manufacturer Polcom and opened an MMC Centre of Excellence in Monaghan, Ireland. The company now lists manufacturing operations in Tracy, California; Berwick, Pennsylvania; and Chojnice, Poland.

Gensler says VBC has delivered more than 8,000 units across 13 countries, covering multifamily housing, student accommodation, hotels and government projects. Previous work includes modular hotels for citizenM in London, Amsterdam, New York, Seattle and Washington DC.

The San Antonio program will draw on VBC’s US manufacturing network. Buckley said its delivery would require additional production lines, second shifts and further factory expansion, with more details to be released.

“American workers, building housing for American soldiers, in American factories,” he said. “I couldn’t be more proud.”

Buckley compared the scale of the federal commitment with Operation Breakthrough, the US Department of Housing and Urban Development program that tested industrialised building systems and housing designs between 1969 and 1974.

“In the largest investment by the federal government since Operation Breakthrough in the 1970s, the Department of War has selected Layton Construction and Gensler architecture, in partnership with VBC, to produce 3,000 living units for 6,000 soldiers at Joint Base San Antonio,” he said.

“To the teams at Layton and Gensler, who have put in years of effort to secure this project, and to the teams at VBC who spent nearly two decades making sure we were capable of winning it, thank you.

“And to the rest of our industry—the pioneers and leaders who’ve played a part in VBC’s journey to date—congratulations to you.

“Because this will not be the last megaproject. This is the first of many.”

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