Australia’s population is projected to continue growing rapidly over the coming years, necessitating construction innovation like never seen before.
Construction trends in the country demonstrate how revolutionary companies are rising to the occasion, using new building technology to create the structures that will support this growth.
Let’s take a look at the most prominent trends.
Construction Trends Revolutionizing Australia
#1. The Continued Rise of Urban Areas
A whopping 89.55% of Australians live in urban areas that are concentrated around the country’s edges.
New residents are flocking to these areas, leading to the immense demand for housing in urban areas. Demand drove house prices in Sydney and Melbourne up by 74% and 50% on average in the five years leading up to 2017, underscoring the huge challenge and opportunity facing developers in urban centres.
Unsurprisingly, many of the tallest new buildings in Australian cities are residential — and this is almost certain to continue as detached houses become increasingly impractical.
#2. Major Investments In The Construction Industry
Construction is a major industry in Australia. As such, one of the most prominent construction trends is continued investment in the industry. Private investors are looking to take advantage of the opportunities that abound among Australia’s explosive economic and population growth.
The government, meanwhile, continues to fund enormous public infrastructure projects as a means of using construction innovation to support the growing country’s needs.
#3. Renewed Industry Growth
Another of the most prominent construction trends in Australia (which is undoubtedly a consequence of the previous trend) is growth for the industry as a whole. This is particularly welcome after a rocky downturn in recent times.
Experts project that the construction industry will grow at a compounding annual rate of 2.14% through 2023, compared to the decline of 1.59% seen between 2014 and 2018.
#4. Increased Efficiency
Construction technology in Australia isn’t just leading to new futuristic building projects. It’s also leading to greater efficiency for the industry at large. Modern technology is making it easier for professionals to do their jobs, leading to a year-over-year increase in productivity of 2.8%.
#5. Growth Of New Construction Technology Like VR
Virtual reality is on pace to become a go-to tool for everything from modelling structural designs to in-depth training. Rapid advancements technology as a whole (including 5G mobile technology) will make VR more readily available to workers everywhere.
This will usher in a new era of futuristic building unlike anything Australians have seen before.
#6. Greater Emphasis On Safety (Particularly in NSW)
Inspections of jobsites throughout NSW resulted in more than 1,200 breach notices being handed out, leading some to claim the industry as a whole is unsafe. While there is understandably pushback on this notion from a wide range of industry experts, government officials promptly launched initiatives to tighten safety protocol.
There’s a good reason for these measures; the swath of inspections came about after the death in April 2019 of an 18-year-old worker in training.
#7. Green Building
Another of the prominent construction trends revolutionizing Australia right now is an emphasis on sustainable building materials. Australia has been recognized by Dodge Data and Analytics as a global leader in this space. Its output of green buildings is “notably higher” than average, according to the report.
There are many factors driving this, including investor recognizance of the economic benefits that can arise from building sustainably.
#8. Increased Modular And Prefab Construction
Futuristic building in Australia is increasingly modular, with construction innovation making for structures one would never guess were built largely off-site.
One particularly stunning example of this is La Trobe Tower in Melbourne, the tallest prefab building in Australia as of writing. Prefab construction allowed this building to rise twice as fast (two floors per week to be exact) as the industry standard.
Because modular, prefab building components are constructed largely off-site, they provide job opportunities for people across a wide range of sectors. This includes the auto industry, whose workers transport the modular building’s components to the final site.
#9. Rise Of Building Information Modeling
Yes, we did mention technology as a whole in a previous item on this list of construction trends. Building Information Modeling (BIM), however, is one worth zeroing in on.
As construction industry professionals in Australia look to maintain global relevance, BIM is becoming increasingly used. There is even discussion about mandating its use.
Those looking to stay one step ahead of construction trends in Australia would be wise to ensure their familiarity with BIM and how it makes for more efficient planning, design, and construction of buildings.
#10. Disaster-Proofing
Natural disasters are becoming more common all around the world, including in Australia. As such, one of the most crucial construction trends for the present and future (should this trend persist) is adequate disaster-proofing of buildings.
As far as Australia is concerned, this includes adequate water-proofing and earthquake-resistant materials.
