Kincaid Sets 10-Week Target for Prefab Townhouses After Pilot Project Success

Australia’s construction sector is among the slowest in adopting new methods, according to Kincaid founder and director Kris Burt. “We’re just doing everything the same way we’ve always done it,” Burt says. “We know the industry is behind, we know it hasn’t been innovated here the way it has in other parts of the world, and we can see all the industries around us that have been disrupted.” Burt firmly believes the time is now right for prefabrication to move from niche to mainstream. “We see a big opportunity,” he tells The Urban Developer . At Stockland’s Highlands estate in Craigieburn, Kincaid has completed five prefab terraces in around three months, a project the developer-builder says provides proof of a faster, more scalable path for medium-density housing delivery. Kincaid chief operating officer Joel Martin says the industry resistance to modular and prefab construction is as much cultural as it is commercial. “We’ve spoken to several builders … and most of them have said, ‘Oh yeah, we ran the numbers on it, we looked at it’ and then found a way not to do it,” he says. “Our mindset is the opposite—let’s find a way to do it.” ▲ The five terraces at Highlands, Craigieburn, were delivered up to 85 per cent faster than a traditional townhouse development. The five terraces, each with four bedrooms, three bathrooms, a double garage and an 8-Star NatHERS rating, sold out within three weeks of launch. Martin says traditional builds of similar scale typically take between 10 and 12 months. Kincaid’s next run, targeted for August or September, aims to compress the timeline further. “Ten weeks from cut to key is what we’re aiming for,” he says. “We’ve delivered five homes, starting with a pilot run where we learned a lot, and still got through in about three months. So, we’re confident the 10-week target is achievable with the learnings from that first run.” Pre-planning is critical to delivery, Martin says, and adds that Stockland’s decision to free up adjoining lots for storage was a major efficiency gain. “What we’ve learned is that the pre-planning phase is probably the most important part of the whole process,” he says. Panels arrive by container and are craned into position floor by floor, with locally fabricated roof sheeting installed last. Weather is a variable that can extend a run, though Burt says even a month’s delay leaves prefab well ahead of conventional timeframes. “When you contextualise it against what we’re used to, calling it a delay almost seems absurd,” he says. Kincaid says medium-density, repeatable product is the near-term opportunity for prefab rather than detached housing, where time savings aren’t as profound. “I don’t see prefab as the right solution for four townhouses down a back street in an inner suburb,” Burt says. “It’s a solution for scale. The suppliers are large factories that need orders of 500 or more to move on price.” Kincaid is working to close the volume gap by bringing other builders into the fold. “We’re talking to other builders who want to get involved and start their own prefab projects,” Martin says. “We’re actively helping one group get started in the same way we did. “If more small to medium developers are building prefab alongside us, that starts to aggregate the volume and helps get to that 500-unit threshold to bring prices down.” Martin says the pilot run generated 50 to 60 per cent less site waste than a standard build, with timber offcuts from the factory reprocessed into laminate board at a reported recycled content of 95 to 99 per cent. “We saw it with our own eyes at the factory in China, offcuts going in one end, board coming out the other,” he says. Delete Prefabrication is often met with concern that shifting work into factories comes at the expense of on-site trades. That is not the case at Kincaid, both directors say. “Every single trade we normally use, we used,” Martin says. “You still need the chippies to stand the wall panels up, the plumbers and electricians to make the connections, the plasterers to stop and set once the panels are in.” What changes is the timeline, he says, with crews on site for roughly 20 to 25 per cent of the time required on a traditional build, freeing them to move to the next project faster. “If a crew can do five projects in the time it would have taken to do one, that’s a fundamental improvement in industry productivity.” Burt says trade buy-in on Kincaid’s projects has exceeded expectations. Some have even asked to visit the factory to view the process and consult on better ways to supply the end-products. There’s also a strong physical argument for the model, Martin says. “Many tradespeople are looking to get off the tools by 35,” he says. “A prefab site, less cutting, less heavy lifting, less waste, is just a better environment to work in. If it keeps skilled people in the industry for longer, that’s a genuine benefit.” Scaling nationally will require regulatory alignment, Burt says, arguing prefab needs recognition as a certified construction method that does not need re-approval in every jurisdiction. “The housing accord targets aren’t going to be met by traditional construction,” he says. “This type of product needs to be part of the conversation at a policy level.”

Exclusive
Leon Della Bosca
Thu 06 Aug 26

Kincaid Sets 10-Week Target for Prefab Townhouses After Pilot Project Success

Get the full story.