Offsite Architecture: Constructing the future

Architects have been intrigued by prefabricated construction since the early twentieth century. Recent advances in design, engineering and manufacturing processes have led to a significant expansion in the use of pre-assembled components, which are fitted to finished structures on site. Collectively, such processes are becoming known as "offsite construction."

A ground-breaking text, Offsite Architecture establishes the current – and future – state of thinking in this field. A range of the most highly regarded thinkers and practitioners from around the globe share their ideas and practical findings on offsite prefabrication, examining theory and practice, opportunities and challenges, successes and failures.

A timely response to the growing interest in this method, the book provides the fundamental basis for a critical, reflective approach to offsite architecture. Contributions from both academics and professionals make Offsite Architecture required reading for practitioners as well as students taking courses in architecture, prefabrication, construction and engineering.

Ryan E. Smith is an Associate Professor of Architecture at the University of Utah, USA. He has investigated offsite design and construction for nearly a decade through industry-applied research. He is author of Prefab Architecture (Wiley, 2010) and Building Systems (Routledge, 2012). He is past Chair of the Board of Directors of the National Institute of Building Sciences Off-Site Construction Council. He is a Senior Research Fellow at the Centre for Offsite Construction at Edinburgh Napier University in the UK.

John D. Quale is Director and Professor of Architecture at the University of New Mexico School of Architecture and Planning, USA. His expertise is in sustainable design, affordable housing, prefabrication, the environmental impact of construction, and collaborative and integrated design processes. He is the author of Sustainable, Affordable, Prefab: The ecoMOD Project (UVA Press, 2012) and Trojan Goat: A Self-Sufficient House (UVA Press, 2002), about his leadership of the 2002 UVA Solar Decathlon Team in a national design/build house competition sponsored by the US Department of Energy.