The stalled modular tower in Brooklyn
has industry insiders asking the question: is modular construction at a large
scale possible?
Construction of B2 BKLYN, a proposed tower built in the
lego-esque modular technology, is at a standstill after developer
Forest City
Ratner Companies and construction company Skanska USA sued each other.
While Forest
City blames the execution
of the plan, Skanska claimed the design was faulty, according to the Wall
Street Journal. The work was shut down with only 10 stories built. Skanska
claimed, in a letter in which the company describes its frustrations with the
new development, that the building could leak at the thousands of joints
between the different pieces that would make up the structure.
For some, the stalled development is proof that it will be
hard for modular construction — which is a cheaper alternative to regular
construction — to become part of the mainstream.
Others are still hopeful that more projects will be
constructed that way and point to modular towers that have been completed
successfully in China and
the United Kingdom .
“We’ll get there, I’m just not sure we’re there yet,” James
Garrison, principal at Garrison Architects told the newspaper. “It’s like when
you build an automobile. You know the fan belt has to clear the frame, the gas
line has to have places to go—all of these things have to be integrated.”
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