Innovation partnership to hunt for construction’s ‘revolutionary moment’

The University of Sheffield AMRC is a network research and innovation centres that work with manufacturing companies of all sizes around the globe. It has particular strengths in the automotive and aerospace industries. Its research develops innovative methods that are of practical use to the manufacturing industry.

Meanwhile, Hull-based Pagabo said it was so committed to the use of new methods that it had created The Future of Construction (TFOC) initiative to drive industry-wide collaboration to shape the sector’s future.

The collaborating team is to meet throughout the year to monitor progress. It will announce further steps later this year and is planning a conference in Hull early next year.

Gerard Toplass, executive chairman of Pagabo, said: “Everyone agrees that construction is a sector that has been left behind in terms of new ways of working and innovation. Many methods in construction have been used for decades.

“What we want to do as a group is to totally shake up the construction sector – and create real change to drive economic growth and establish the UK as a global innovator.”

“It’s vital that we think about the industry as a whole and how we can promote new technologies to improve how we do things,” he explained. “The construction sector needs a revolutionary moment – similar to the aerospace industry when it created the ‘black box’.

“We intend to build on the government’s agenda for value, procuring for value and its ‘build, build, build’ initiative. But we also want to foster a new way of doing this that future-proofs the construction sector, secures jobs and builds sustainably – with economic, social and environmental processes in mind.”

Steve Foxley, CEO of the University of Sheffield AMRC, said: “We see construction as a wildly exciting and opportunity-filled industry to benefit from our learnings over the past 20 years.

“We want to work closely with Pagabo to create a real catalyst for change. Pagabo has a unique and important role within the industry as a framework provider and has influence across a wider portion of the industry via its ecosystem of contractors and supply chain partners.

“We will be learning from the automotive and aerospace industries and seeing where we can adapt methods and innovations that would work in the construction sector.

“We want to look at areas like enterprise architecture, the future of buildings in a digital world, and how standards and interfaces will enable the digital world in construction.”

Lord Kerslake, the former head of the civil service, is a non-executive chairman of Pagabo who helped forge its relationship with the AMRC.

Lord Kerslake said: “Research and development remains low in construction. And there is very little collaboration on this among key players in the industry. Combined, we want to make a real and transformational difference in construction within the next ten years.”

Professor Rab Scott, head of digital at the AMRC, said that in just four weeks, the new collaboration had already created change. 

“We have already started working with Pagabo on health and safety on site and looking at ways of using digital technologies to streamline processes. In terms of results, if we can prevent one accident or one hour’s lost time, it has an immediate benefit, and our work is immediately scalable. 

“The diversity in the team is one of the great things that makes me get up in the morning. We are proud of what we are doing and what we are going to do. It is about meaningful relationships, and this is just the start of the journey.”