Prefabricated modular condos can help address Toronto's housing shortage, builders say

People searching for an affordable home inToronto couldsoon have a choice never seen before in Canada's largest city:prefabricatedmodular condos.

Inspired by a style of buildingfound in parts of Scandinavia, Germanyand elsewhere in Europe,a trio of companies is hoping toconstructthreemid-rise condo buildingsand do so quickly and sustainably, says Michael Barker, co-founderof R-Hauz Solutions, a firmthat builds prefabricated homes.

"The traditional way of construction is flawed. It failed," said Barker. "It's too intensive There's a lot of waste on labour, a lot of mistakes get made, things get dragged out."

The companies are seeking the city's approval for the projectas the Toronto areagrapples with an affordable housing crisis partly due to what urban planners call"the missing middle" a lack of low- andmid-risemulti-family buildings. Advocatessay many proposed housing projects are slow to launch or don't get off the ground due to complex rules, as well asthe time and the expense of construction.

This newapproach, called a "flat pack modular strategy," would solve those problems partly by being faster and cheaper deliveringa buildinglike"a house of cards"wherethe pieces come from the factory ready to go and teamsjust assemblethem on the site, Barkersays.

He and his partners,Windmill Developments andLeader Lane Developments, are planning toconstructthe threecondo buildingsin the city's west endnear the Mimico GO Station, with 83 suites in all. The developers say they hope to start the presale of units in August and begin building by December.

Thestrategy will allow the developersto work much faster, Barkersays. Until now, six-storey mid-rise homes have often beenjust as complicated to buildas larger structures, creating little incentive to pursue these developments, he adds.

The case for a new way of construction

R-Hauz Solutions finished an apartment building on Queen Street East in Leslievillelast summer that isnow occupied. Thecondo buildings they're planning toconstructas part of this plan will essentially be copies of that project, says Barker.

They'll construct the buildings withOntario cross laminated timber (CLT), which "sequesters carbon" for life, he says, adding that themethod also minimizesthe use of concrete, a material he says is worse for the environment.

Under this method, the weather doesn't slow construction down as much and working conditions willusually be better, says Tamer El-Diraby, a civil engineering professor at the University of Toronto who isn't affiliated with the project.

He also says it will be easier and cheaper to recruit and teachworkers to build these prefabricated structuresthan with more conventional construction methods.

"Finding people who are trained and willing to go to the site is becoming harder and harder," El-Diraby said."And the cost of that is increasing."

The new methodmay provide more jobs in the construction industry for young people, women and those with technical interests, he says. There are also advantages for the neighbours. It means less noise and dust and fewerdisruptions because the project gets finished more quickly, El-Dirabysays.

'Compressed timeframe'

There are also efficiencies in the planning process, says Don Manlapaz, a partner at Leader Lane Developments.

"It's such a compressed timeframe," said Manlapaz, "You'll be able to move in in two years."

And because thethree condo buildings are using the same prototype, blueprint and building design, the approvals process can be streamlined.

"Instead of having three separate development approvals in a development vision, it's one vision ... reviewed in a collection," he said.

He says amoremodest low- or mid-rise project like this onethat fits in with the existing neighbourhood canundergo a shorter approval process at city hall, with no need for zoning bylaw amendments, something that can often betime consuming with other construction projects.

Experts say the shift is a long time coming.

"Largely speaking, prefab and modular architecture is lagging in the industry," said Jason Halter, a professor at the Daniels Faculty of Architecture and Design at the University of Toronto.

He sees positives for sustainability and construction speed, noting even reducing continuous travel to a site by several months could be significant for saving energy and time. There also tends to be fewer materials wasted due to on-site errors, he says.

Not cheaper yet

But Haltersays:"I've yet to see a prefabricated building be lots less expensive as the claim might be."

El-Dirabyagrees, saying like any new technology, it might not save moneyright away.

"The scale matters a lot in this regard," he said.

While the partnership has only three condo buildingsin the worksright now,R-Hauz Solutions can sell their product to other developers, said Jonathan Westeinde, CEO and founder ofWindmill Developments.

Halter says he hopes some of the savingsfrombuilding prefabricated and modular housingefficiently, sustainably and at a lesser cost end up inwould-be home owners' wallets.

"It would be unfortunate if a developer were to maximize their profit in terms of their construction applicationand not pass on some of those savings."

Theinitial three mid-rise condos would be cheaper than most other street-level options like townhouses, but roughly comparable to prices in large towers, says Westeinde.

Windmill has other projects in the works with an affordable housing component and hopes as companies create models for working in this new way, it becomes easier to replicate and cheaper, he says.

"We think [it] has a real potential for a long-term program to sort of fill that missing middle," he said.