The potential benefits of volumetric construction include faster builds, improved quality, and reduction in waste.
However, increased transportation costs, structural redundancy, and increased overheads can dilute these benefits, limiting their uptake. Within the Australian construction industry, the bathroom pod is one of the few volumetric assemblies that has become commonplace, and considered an acceptable method of delivering bathrooms in multi-storey buildings.
However, the degree to which manufacturing methodologies have been adopted in the design and delivery of bathroom pods varies.
This project unpicks the complexities of a volumetric construction through the lens of the bathroom pod, examining business models, design approaches, and production strategies.
Researchers on project include: Dr Ivana Kuzmanovska: Dr Lu Aye, Marcel Gono, Dr Felix Hui,
Mohaimeen Islam, Dr Lee-Anne Khor, Enzo Lara-Hamilton, Yimin Li, Dr Xuemei Liu, Dr Duncan Maxwell, Dr Robert Moehler, Prof Tuan Ngo, Mark Romei, Karen Tanfield, Dr Tanja Tyvimaa, Prof Clevo
Wilson & Darcy Zelenko.
Date commenced and duration
July 2021 - September 2022Partners
Industrialisation
- Building Design and DFMA
- Business Model Innovation
- Construction Management
- Platforms and Process
- Supply Chain Management, Logistics
Building Design and DFMA
Projects
#112 Flexible wet cores for volumetric housing construction
#71 Automated decision making for interdisciplinary coordination during early-stage building design
#95 The Homes NSW MMC Program
#61 Building Productivity – Product, Process, People
Light House Project #13: Mixed Reality Carpentry Demonstration
Business Model Innovation
Theme coordinator

Robert Moehler
Projects
#112 Flexible wet cores for volumetric housing construction
#70 Building Circularity 4.0: First Steps to Adoption
#80 Why are insolvencies so high in the Construction industry and what can be done about it?
#95 The Homes NSW MMC Program
#93 US Research Tour 2024: San Francisco and Greater Bay area
Construction Management
Theme coordinator

Dr Mehrdad Arashpour
Projects
#104 Development of a solution for high-rise mass timber residences through a Post & Plate system – Phase 2 Numerical and experimental investigation
#68 Development of a solution for high-rise mass timber residences through a Post & Plate system – Phase 1 feasibility study
#21 Regulatory Reform for Industrialised Building
#61 Building Productivity – Product, Process, People
Light House Project #13: Mixed Reality Carpentry Demonstration
Platforms and Process
Theme coordinator

Dr Duncan Maxwell
Projects
#112 Flexible wet cores for volumetric housing construction
#90 Evaluating the effectiveness of roofing work inspection using remotely piloted aircraft systems
#95 The Homes NSW MMC Program
#93 US Research Tour 2024: San Francisco and Greater Bay area
#53 Process Engineering, and Design and Estimating Automation of Fleetwood’s Product Platform
Keywords
- Bathroom pods
- design for manufacturing and assembly
- DfMA
- Modular construction
- Productisation
- Volumetric construction