Dubai tests modular building to cut demand down to size

Dubai Municipality has awarded Linq Modular a licence to start work on a pilot for a seven-storey modular building. 

Linq will design and build the pilot modules at its 300,000-sq-ft factory in Dubai Industrial City – which has the capacity to produce 1,900 units per year. The units could be used for a residential or a commercial building.

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Demand for modular construction has risen by 6 percent year on year because it is “value for money”, according to Bashar Kayali, general manager of Linq, which is a subsidiary of Alec Engineering and Contracting. 

“In modular, the accuracy is very high. Everything comes cut-to-size, ready-to-click. That’s it,” he said.  

Analysis by McKinsey & Co has found that modular production can speed up the construction process by as much as 50 percent while reducing costs by 20 percent.

“Modular is one of the movers for the future of construction,” said Ahmad Al Salami, principal building studies specialist at Dubai Municipality.

“We have given modular construction licences to more than five companies in Dubai.”

Modular is the best technology to construct the emirate’s increasingly popular mid-rise buildings, Al Salami added.

Since the Covid pandemic, there has been 20 percent year on year growth in construction activities, according to Dubai Municipality.

At present, the construction sector contributes 6.4 percent to Dubai’s GDP directly and nearly 68 percent indirectly. 

Watch the video to understand how a modular building is constructed