Sarah Constructions reaches modular schools milestone

A local building company is using a cutting edge construction technique, similar to IKEA, to deliver three multimillion dollar school upgrades.

Three primary schools are celebrating milestones in their multimillion-dollar upgrades, which are being delivered through a new cutting-edge construction process.

Prefabricated wall, roof and floor panels have been built off-site in a warehouse in Adelaide’s industrial northern suburbs, and have been delivered to Brighton, Aldinga and Greenwith primary schools, where they are being assembled on-site.

Known as modular construction, the process slashes the amount of time needed on site and speeds up construction, thereby reducing costs.

The three school projects are being led by local commercial builder Sarah Constructions.

Late last year the company opened a new manufacturing facility in Regency Park after being engaged by the State Government on a number of school upgrade projects.

Chief executive Adrian Esplin said implementation of modular construction on the schools program followed five years of research and development at Sarah. He expects the technology to disrupt traditional methods of construction across the state.

Sarah Constructions erecting modular panels at the Aldinga B-7 school upgrade. Supplied by Sarah Constructions

“We make up, effectively, walls, floors and roof panels, and deliver them to site, which cuts down site installation time by anywhere from 30 to 50 per cent,” he said.

“It’s a form of construction that’s moving forward – South Australia’s generally a little bit more conservative and that’s why I think it will take some time to be adopted here.

“But if as an industry we don’t adopt change, what will end up happening is larger corporations will step in and start taking significant work off of the local industry.”

The modular buildings at the three schools will each include classrooms, breakout spaces, and undercover outdoor learning areas.

Sarah is using a panelised modular system, where similar to an IKEA flat pack, panels are delivered to and assembled on site.

Other variants of modular construction include the volumetric system where rooms or pods are manufactured off-site and then joined together on-site to form a larger building.

Nodal construction incorporates common connection points, a bit like Lego.

Sarah has partnered with Victorian company Sensum, which was controversially engaged by the Education Department last year to project manage the construction of modular buildings as part of its $1.3 billion school upgrades program.

The Master Builders Association criticised the department at the time, for not putting the contract out to tender, and for failing to give local building companies a chance to bid for the work.

However Mr Esplin said Sensum’s introduction had been beneficial for the local industry.

“We saw the Department of Education turning up with Sensum as being quite innovative,” he said.

Sarah Constructions chief executive Adrian Esplin inside the Regency Park factory where modular school upgrades are being built. Picture – Michael Marschall

“They were trying to improve the capacity and look at different forms of construction – obviously with the $1.3 billion worth of construction through.

“Late last year we partnered with Sensum and that enabled us to make the investment to set up our warehouse and start manufacturing.

“For the department to go outside the norm and want to be more innovative has led to innovation in the industry, not just for us but for other contractors that are moving into modular.”

Two interstate companies, Fleetwood and Grove – which specialise in modular construction – have opened manufacturing plants in Adelaide’s northern suburbs as part of Sensum’s $50.8 m contract, while local builders including Centina have ramped up their modular divisions.

Sarah brought on 10 additional staff when it opened its factory in November, and has plans to implement its modular system on more school projects as well as in hospitality and accommodation projects.

“If it wasn’t for the schools program together with Sensum then it wouldn’t have justified the investment – you need projects of scale to justify that major investment, otherwise it doesn’t quite work,” Mr Esplin said.

Master Builders chief executive Will Frogley said modular construction had moved well beyond its “portable shed” days, with prefabricated technologies fast affecting the local industry.

“In recent years modular construction has become more common interstate and overseas, so it’s important South Australia builds up local capability in this area so jobs and economic benefits stay in our state.”

Education Minister John Gardner said unlike the transportable classrooms of old, the new modular buildings were “modern, high quality and provide learning environments similar to bricks and mortar structures”.

“We know that schools who have received modular classrooms in recent years have been impressed with their new facilities – both their quality and the speed in which they can be delivered,” he said.

“These are a key part of our $1.3 billion education build, which is meeting a range of needs across our education system by building capacity in schools where it is needed, modernising facilities that sorely need it and enabling the transition of Year 7 into high school.

“These modular buildings are being delivered by local businesses, creating hundreds of local jobs as we continue to recover from the economic impact of the pandemic.”