Manufacturing for Schools

Our aims for this important body of work include: 
 

Creating an emerging and competitive market

• Maximising competitive opportunities, including regional and small-medium sized businesses.
• Cost and value for money
• Improve workforce skills and job opportunities that boost economic growth in the region and leave a lasting legacy
• Provide opportunities to standardise educational infrastructure solutions to provide greater market certainty. 

Developing market capability

• Developing depth, capability and agility across the supply chain.
• Supporting training and upskilling on advanced manufacturing and/or assembly capabilities locally that can be transferrable across sectors. Supporting the use of a common digital platform to enhance competition, promote collaboration and planning across the supply chain.

Appropriate risk allocation

• Engaging industry early in the process to seek views on risk sharing and allocation, so that risks sit with the party best placed to manage them (or they are managed collaboratively).

Quality and safety

• Harness the productivity gains inherent in the Manufacturing for Schools program to support further research into the benefits of a 5-day working week, as part of the Construction Industry Culture Taskforce’s work to improve the conditions and appeal of our industry for all.

There are many benefits to these modern construction methods:

• We save time – it’s around 30 per cent faster on the construction site. 
• There are great sustainability gains, including reduced carbon emissions, material waste and water waste on sites.
• We are making a social impact, creating new jobs, expanding opportunities for local training and upskilling and harnessing inherent productivity and safety gains to improve working conditions in the construction industry.
• It’s safer to manufacture building parts in purpose-built spaces and the assembly requires less interface on sites. 
• It provides equality of building and delivery time between rural, regional and metropolitan schools.

Given students are at the centre of all we do, our greatest outcome is the reduced disruption to school operations. Offsite manufacturing and onsite assembly means less noise, dust, traffic and disruption. 

Other benefits include:

• Manufacturing in a controlled factory environment virtually eliminates the impact of adverse weather and site conditions on the total build time.
• School capacity can be more responsive to local demographics and housing developments in areas of rapid growth. 
• Faster construction reduces the risk of disruption to important school events, such as exams or celebrations.

This construction approach can take two forms – volumetric modules or component kit of parts. 

Volumetric modules

Volumetric modules have been used at a number of schools, including:

• Jordan Springs Public School
• Galungara Public School
• Barramurra Public School
• Estella Public School
• Denham Court Public School. 

This method sees modular construction of classrooms, vertical risers, lift cores and amenity modules in a factory offsite, then installed as a complete module at the school site. 

See how this innovative construction method met the needs of the school community at Jordan Springs Public School. 

Kit of parts 

This is where standardised building components including floor systems, panelised walls, roofs, beams, columns, facades, joinery and services for all room types are manufactured offsite and the parts are assembled at the school site.  

The kit of parts methodology was deployed at the Meadowbank Education and Employment Precinct and Fern Bay Public School.

High quality schools are set to be built and upgraded faster than ever before, with the greater use of our ‘pavilion’ model, which allows permanent, high quality school buildings to be delivered in months instead of years.

Pavilions are designed and constructed off-site and assembled in a matter of weeks on the school grounds. It saves time, construction costs and minimises disruption.

The upgrade at Fern Bay Public School near Newcastle piloted the pavilion model, with a total construction time of 12 weeks including just 6 weeks of on-site assembly.