Modernland builds earthquake-resistant houses in Indonesia with precast concrete elements

Benefits of building with precast concrete elements

Precast has many advantages over conventional building systems and thus the market is very accepting of this new way to build. One of the most important benefits of using prefabricated precast elements is the short on-site installation time. On the Indonesian market, the government grants a significant benefit to real estate developers able to keep construction time exceedingly short: Developers who can hand over a new house to the customer within six months save 10% in tax payments. It only takes five to six days to construct the shell of a house made of precast elements (45 precast panels are needed for any of these houses). Overall, it takes about 75 days to build one house from the foundations to finishing works and the final handover to the real estate developer (5-8 days are required for foundation work, 6 days for installing the precast elements, and the rest is usually planned for architectural work). Yet the short construction time is not the only benefit of using precast elements. Due to the production in a plant with automated machinery the quality is consistently high. No weather conditions influence the timing and product quality, and the safety and environmentally friendlier conditions are huge benefits of such factories. Mr. Hendy W. Budijanto, Operation Div. Head of PT. Modern Panel Indonesia, is convinced that precast houses have the greatest potential for being the future of building.

Earthquake-resistant prefabricated concrete elements benefit first housing project

Jakarta Garden City (Cluster Shinano) in East Jakarta is the first housing project of the well-respected company, who chose to design and produce the prefabricated earthquake-resistant elements for this huge project. 106 of the 120 units have already been sold within three months. The real estate agents bought immediately and so did their clients. For the 67 m² per unit they charged 1.5bn IDR (about 103,500 USD), thus making it affordable also for the middle class. Thanks to the very central location, the houses do not need any further infrastructure added within the complexes, such as pools or similar, because the clubhouse as well as the periphery are providing the required shops, pools, gym etc.

In addition to the quick and secure building method and the affordability also for the middle class, this house has been tested in the laboratory for earthquake resistance. These approved tests were carried out in Puskim, Bandung. The strength of the earthquake reached more than 9 on the Richter scale and still, the precast concrete elements passed the test.

The main customers of PT. Modern Panel Indonesia are independent real estate developers who will put these houses up for sale. PT. Modern Panel Indonesia not only delivers the elements and sets up the house. In the Jakarta Garden City (Shinano) precast house project, for example, they also handled the structural work as well as painting and finishing. The project is built with the full load-bearing system (walls, slabs, beams, and stairs) made of prefabricated precast concrete elements. The slab thickness is 12 cm, while the walls are 10 cm thick.

Supported by the new M-System BlueMesh mesh welding plant facilitating the production through automation, PT. Modern Panel Indonesia has also already finished a hotel as well as a university building. Currently it is completing another hotel project. The hotels were supplied with the precast façade (ready-to-paint surface), while in the new housing project everything is in their hands (precast structure, architecture, and electrical installations) up until the final steps.

Production of precast elements – fast, reliable and high-quality

To provide top-notch materials, PT. Modern Panel Indonesia operates its plant in two long shifts (shift 1 from 8 AM to 8 PM and shift 2 from 8 PM to 8 AM), producing precast as well as ready-mix concrete at a capacity of 60 m³ per hour. Per each shift, about 25 precast elements are produced on the pallets. The finished elements – mainly solid slabs and walls as well as beams and stairs – are shipped to the site during day and night times and thus, by far, provide the quickest way of building.

Reinforcement automation ensures consistently high quality and safety

Modernland decided to invest in a mesh welding plant from progress Maschinen & Automation, the reinforcement machinery experts, in order to modernize the production facility even further and to increase the degree of automation in the factory, which has been equipped, in 2018, with fully automated equipment from German automation leader Ebawe Anlagentechnik. Both companies are members of Progress Group. In both cases, a close collaboration was established with the local partner PT Detede. The new M-System BlueMesh currently operates in one shift mainly processing 6, 7 and 8 mm wires. Since the walls are only 10 to 12 cm thick, the bent mesh cannot be produced with wires in a greater diameter range. This reflects the entire Indonesian market, which is why the plant has been specifically adjusted and installed for this need. Nevertheless, the walls are earthquake-tested and resistant, despite being slim.

The mesh is mainly used for the needs of the factory itself. The new machine welds reinforcing steel from coil according to custom specifications, which leads to considerable reductions in labor costs and waste. The M-System BlueMesh is convincing not only because of its high technological level, but also because of being economical in terms of energy consumption, space requirements and steel as well as personnel costs. Until recently, reinforcement production still involved manual workstations. With the new M-System BlueMesh, the mesh is produced automatically, just-in-time and with the corresponding cutouts for the precast elements.

The future of building – precast concrete elements

Since the plant operates automatically and ensures a high output, Modernland is already envisaging further projects. The company is currently planning an 8-story apartment complex built with a full precast system (load-bearing walls). Also, another housing project is in the making with the production and provision of a precast façade for the 24-story high Cleon Apartment building. Modernland is working on creating a new future of safe living with prefabricated concrete elements and is convinced that this will be the future of building – not only in Indonesia.