Modular home builders see room to grow RAISING R THE ROOF
As they capitalize on the provincial government's push to build more social housing, B.C.'S modular home manufacturers want to conquer foreign markets, too
Louie Quilt hefts a sheet of drywall into a box about the size of a cabin sitting in the middle of the shop floor, the next step for what will become a compact studio apartment for a not-so-well-off resident of Burnaby this spring.
Originally from Williams Lake and the Tsilhqot'in Nation, Quilt has just finished his first four months working at this Horizon North plant in Kamloops, where housing is being churned out in a way that Henry Ford would admire.
There are five production lines in this former bingo hall on Tk'emlúps te Secwepemc industrial land, where three to
four modular units a day are manufactured—complete with kitchens, bathrooms, rubber roofs, high-quality insulation, even furniture—deploying a high-tech system that uses virtual reality to check plans, ipads to track testing and quality, and pre-packed sets of building components.
For Horizon North and the other dominant players in the province's modular home business, and for the government of B.C., this is part of a small revolution. It's one they hope can ease the intense pressure that many parts of the province are experiencing with homelessness and the lack of simple, basic, cheap apartments that used to be prevalent in North American cities.
“It's really assembly, like in car manufacturing,” says Joe Kiss, the engineer who heads Horizon North's modular division, as he walks around the plant talking about the company's reliance on Toyotainspired lean manufacturing strategies.
Those methods, combined with building homes indoors instead of in a muddy field, are what everyone is hoping can produce a lot more housing for hundreds of millions of dollars less than conventional techniques.
Want to know what's on B.C.'S mind? Get the lowdown from our partner the BC Chamber of Commerce, hosting its 2019 AGM & Conference in Burnaby. Themed Better Together, the gathering features keynote speaker Rex Murphy, never shy to say what he's thinking. There are also talks by JP Gladu, president and CEO of the Canadian Council for Aboriginal Business; and B.C. researcher Vivian Krause, who claims there's a U.s.-backed campaign to shut Canada out of the oil market. Panel discussions include a look at up-and-coming Generation Z and its economic impact. Hilton Vancouver Metrotown Hotel and Element Hotel, Burnaby; May 23-25 Tickets at bcchamber.org