The future of construction

Connor Styche is Managing Director of full-service marketing agency

The Digital Lookout, who are dedicated to the construction industry. e also holds many voluntary roles ithin the construction industry Vice Chair of Generations for Change in Kent, as a member of the steering committee for n truct ng cellence Kent ranc and also the Southern Wellness Action Group, a not for profit organisation designed to help SMEs in the construction industry access trained mental health first aiders. ot to mention he is a member of the steering committee for the development of the Kent Construction EXPO 2024.

What does the future of construction look like?

Evolution happens naturally, in response to a need or needs. Big changes are happening all the time in our industry. Slowly but surely, we are evolving.

Working with businesses across all sectors of the industry, at The Digital Lookout we see the implementation of change at varying rates, from business to business. Some are pioneering change, some are responding only to new regulations and others, simply doing what the client asks for.

As an industry, we all know we need to evolve the way in which we build, in response to climate change including utilising the earth’s natural resources more considerately. We also know we need to provide better buildings with their occupiers’ safety and wellbeing in mind.

This won’t be news to anyone reading this. These are areas of development that have been on the industry’s radar and agenda for at least the last decade, but they are now becoming must haves because finally they can’t be put off as something we only do when the client asks for it.

Some projects stand out as impressive for their aesthetic, or because of the speed of their delivery. These factors remain the top of most clients’ objectives. Fast forward 10 years and the top of the list of every project’s objectives will look very different, whether the client likes them or not. They will be focused on these two industry developments that couldn’t be more important, for the future of our planet and in one way or another, every human on it. Actually 10 years is being cautious. It’ll more likely be much sooner that we are left with no choice but to address these fundamental ‘human’ needs in construction.

1. Sustainable buildings

We will build with the building’s carbon output being a key focus, both in construction and operation. We’ll have less choice of materials due to being driven to use only those that are sustainable. We’ll design with energy efficiency and data driven controllable conditions in mind.

2. A single source of truth

Safety won’t be dependent on the designers and those working on the construction site only, it will be monitored by digital records, through all stages, and all disciplines, to ensure there are no excuses or opportunities to fail.

A ‘golden thread’, as a standard requirement on all construction projects (not just high risk buildings), for safety’s sake, along with so many other reasons, is only round the corner in fact. And more stringent sustainability focused regulations and wellbeing standards are being introduced year after year. So those businesses that are waiting to be told to do something, are setting themselves up to have to make some rapid changes if they leave it much longer.

It all comes down to cost

Every client appreciates a bit of added value. In construction that often comes in the form of value engineering or identifying risk, either way reducing construction cost. Understandably, proposing something that increases construction cost is shied away from by the whole supply chain.

What needs to change is for the industry to promote to clients the value they’ll be achieving when they invest in the things that offer long term benefits. ike materials ith longer life spans or technology and processes that enhance safety and mitigate errors.

If you can save your client £10M over the next 10 years, through any means, they should hear about that. They may baulk at the initial outlay to create this cost efficiency over time but it should be the construction industry’s responsibility to share our knowledge and present the facts to those who hold the purse strings. And it’s not just about cost savings in building operation but future proofing buildings from impending regulation changes and the expectations of potential future tenants/buyers.

M Race T E Enefit

Far from simply being cost reducing in the long term technologies enable better building in planning, design and operation. The old adage ‘if it’s not broken…’, in the case of resisting the likes of adopting digital data storage, off-site fabrication and automated processes, is only going to push you to the bottom of the pack in the coming years.

If you’ve got this far into reading this page, you know I’m right about this. You just need to take that leap. If you do, you’ll reap rewards through your business efficiency performance and ultimately, you’ll secure your future.

www.thedigitallookout.co.uk