Prefabrication experiments - 344 - A universal modular building block

The ISO shipping container revolutionized the global economy. International logistics were standardized and regulated based on the idea of a normalized packaging and storing device. The universal box's dimensions along with its stackability were proposed for controlling multimodal cargoes. Organizing disparate variables from a centralized normalized unit has unquestionably contributed to  «platform thinking» as it pertains to  applying a shared model to complex supply chains. The container along with the juxtaposing, stacking clamps and simple assembly details has also inspired many to imagine the same type of assembly approach in architecture and construction. 

 

Companies like Sekisui in Japan, 369 pattern buildings - a more recent exploration on the topic - and perhaps most iconically, Z Modular, an American modular builder has proposed a chassis or rectangular prism with a structural steel skeleton that can be amassed, piled, aligned to produce an open building system. Framed by transport dimensions, the box could be used across multiple building types with medium spans. 

 

The modular universal connector invented by Julian Bowron and brought to market by Z Modular, fixes different corner elements in x,y,z directions to combine posts or beams to stack and clamp individual modules together. The patented modular box applies flexible planning principles to modular construction allowing interiors to be arranged similarly to those of conventional building systems. It is basically a post and beam structure with floors composed of steel decking and girders. Stacked and aligned units create spaces and perimeter faces that are free from structural constraints and in terms of spans are akin to lightweight timber or flat slab construction. Elevations can also be planned and composed with more freedom. The box’s universality makes it possible to oversee and propose common standards for the modular industry in a similar way to what was done in the structural steel industry or even in the concrete industry allowing varied producers to commercialize the same universal building block.   The Z Modular box also indirectly relates to the idea of Platform DfMA which evokes the platform principle applied to architecture through producing multiple designs based on the same kit-of-parts. 

The modular connector by Julian Bowron and Z Modular