JULY 2018 | 15
News
Read online at www.proinstaller.co.uk
ROME WASN’T BUILT IN A DAY,
BUT YOUR HOME WILL BE IN 2025
A report looking at the role
that technology will play in
the construction industry in
the future has revealed that
homes built in less than 24
hours using 3D printers will be
mainstream by 2025, putting
an end to the housing crisis.
The report, written by
renowned future gazer, Dr.
Ian Pearson BSc DSc(hc)
and commissioned by Col-
more Tang Construction and
Virgin StartUp, also revealed
that drones will be used to
carry materials up building
sites by 2025.
3D printed homes have
been built and tested suc-
cessfully in China, France
and the USA and Dr Pearson
believes that the concept
could change the way we
construct houses in the
future.
Futurologist, Dr Ian
Pearson BSc DSc(hc), said:
“By 2025 we will already
see huge changes in the
construction industry thanks
to technology with drones,
AI and 3D printing all
becoming commonplace.
3D Printed homes, which
can be built in 12-24 hours
depending on size could
revolutionise the way we
live, putting an end to the
housing crisis.”
Dr Pearson also revealed
that by 2050, we could see
the way we live change
again thanks to carbon
foam. Carbon foam is lighter
than air and could be used
to create floating homes or
apartments in cities across
the country.
The report also revealed
that over the next decade,
artificial intelligence (AI)
will be commonplace, link-
ing to sensors and cameras
around construction sites,
ensuring that buildings are
being developed according
to the architect’s plans. Hu-
mans will work alongside
AIs and will not only see
these robots as clever tools,
but also colleagues and
even friends as they start
to develop unique relation-
ships.
Looking more than 50
years into the future, by
2075 Dr. Pearson sug-
gests that self-assembling
buildings under AI control
will allow a new form of
structure – kinetic architec-
ture – where a structure is
literally thrown into the sky
and assembled while gravity
forms the materials into
beautiful designs.
The report was launched
by Colmore Tang Construc-
tion, who has partnered
with Virgin StartUp to
deliver a £10m innovation
fund that is open to entre-
preneurial companies in a
construction industry-first
technology accelerator
programme called ‘Con-
strucTech’.
The fund will be provided
to those companies that can
successfully show how their
innovation and technology
could improve the sector’s
productivity, sustainability
and skills issues.
Andy Robinson – Group
CEO, Colmore Tang, said:
“The forward-thinking
report has shown that tech-
nology can have a positive
impact on the construction
industry, however, we need
to discover those exciting
and innovative start-ups,
whose products and servic-
es could deliver the technol-
ogies and innovations that
will be the key to future
success.
“We are hopeful that our
partnership with Virgin
StartUp to create the Con-
strucTech programme and
£10m innovation fund will
be the start of a new dawn
within the industry, where
the future innovations pre-
dicted become a reality.”
Virgin StartUp is a leading
business support organisa-
tion which has run several
successful accelerators and
supported 11,000 entre-
preneurs across the UK.
Construction in the UK has
been slow to embrace inno-
vation and adopt new tech-
nology and Colmore Tang
has identified several key
areas within its business,
and the industry as a whole,
which it believes could ben-
efit from the contribution of
enterprising start-ups.
Colmore Tang and Virgin
StartUp are calling for
businesses to apply to the
ConstrucTech programme
to address the following
problems:
People: improving analysis
of performance, sharing
best practice across building
projects, measurement of
quality and implementation
of health and safety.
Data: using data to pre-
empt potential delays, more
efficient material ordering,
more effective use of labour
along with use of perfor-
mance data to improve cost,
timescales and estimates
of new projects for future
clients.
Smart Materials: design
and implementation of ma-
terials to improve sustain-
ability; improve safety and
finding materials which are
digitally connected.
Colmore Tang is providing
start-ups with the opportu-
nity to use the programme
as a test bed and devel-
opment platform to bring
products and ideas to the
construction sector. It’s
hoped the £10m innovation
behind ConstrucTech will
be the spark to improve
lacklustre productivity levels
and begin addressing the
need to re-skill over half a
million construction work-
ers to suit the industry’s
future.
Interested start-ups
can apply to be part
of ConstrucTech here:
http://virginstartup.org/
constructech