Due to the rising cases of COVID-19 in America, a lot of people are getting hospitalized daily. Cases have increased so much that conventional hospitals and care centers have been used to their fullest capacity. This forced government and care centers to turn their attention to the construction of medical facilities using prefabricated and modular designs. This is because of its characteristics as a temporary and working solution as a relatively easy option for construction.
Besides being used as a medical facility, you must have come across hotels, shelters, industries, and offices to make use of different and unique designs in building temporary structures using modular designs. Some of these entities even go as far as constructing modular structures within a permanent and usually large building.
Some of these modular units include a field house, convention grounds, hotels, and many others. After the prefabricated and modular structures have fulfilled their purpose, they can easily be disassembled and stored or moved to another place for temporary use, especially in cases where hospitals no longer require the modular structures for treatment of patients.
Construction of prefabricated and modular design structures provides users with a wide range of benefits when compared to conventional structures which are permanent. An obvious benefit is the reduced construction time, which gives the hospitals a faster solution for the demand for care and treatment. It is also less expensive because of the materials used in construction, and less waste is generated.
Hospitals are now turning to prefabricated and modular designs for construction solutions after discovering the relative ease of eliminating microorganisms. This is possible because of the safe and efficient use of machinery, thereby cutting down contact and interaction between people who could lead to the spread of the virus.
It’s safe to say that the use of prefabricated and modular design became necessary after examples of its use were seen in Wuhan, China, and the exceptional results it produced. Today, many hospitals have adopted the same method, and excellent results have been presented over time.
According to the many health centers who have employed the use of prefabricated and modular designs have ascertained the fact that the process from the timing of the concept to the finished product was exceptional. The hospitals were able to cover grounds in terms of quantity and quality in little time.
One of the advantages of prefabricated and modular designs is that many companies have been working on suitable prototypes for modular clinics and other medical facilities before the advent of COVID-19. At the time, not a whole lot of people or medical centers knew about this development. After the pandemic hit every corner of the world, prefabricated and modular designs came into limelight. Since then, these modular structures have seen an increase in demand, and companies were able to deliver in the time since many prototypes were already in place for use.
The health centers had to adapt to these modular medical facilities to provide enough intensive care for patients as the number of cases grew by the hour. As demands grew, companies had to cut down the construction time from start to completion. The delivery of modular facilities which usually takes more than four weeks is now reduced to a week.
According to different construction companies, they consider social distancing and health protocols during the fabrication process. This is done to help reduce the spread of infection in the facility, even after it’s completed and in use.
Despite being tagged as temporary structures, prefabricated and modular design structures have a design lifespan of up to 10 years. However, a lesson that is worthy to note is that at whatever point design is standardized, and a supply chain is established, an inventory of the finished product is not required. This is because the high demand fabrication will only take a few days, thus saving costs.
Recently, many companies have tried to help out at these trying times, with some providing work quotes for the US army corps of Engineers and other government parastatals. These companies function as entities that design from start to completion and install modules for either medical centers, commercial and industrial companies. Some of these companies also put their assets on lease for companies that require them temporarily. These companies have so far fulfilled the immediate structural needs of medical institutions to date.
Of recent, numerous prefabricated and modular companies are formulating ways by which they can thrive in the advent of another wave of coronavirus or any other emergency like Natural disaster in the nearest future. Most of these companies have put themselves in positions where they can give a quick response to any notice of need around the country.
Many countries with prefabrication and modular companies have incentive zed their operations by setting up a requirement to obtain building permits. This is possible because of the high efficiency of modular designs. This makes it easier for any emergency to be handled easily.
It is advised that the real estate should also look into other forms of construction, of which Prefabricated and modular design is chief. This new perspective will help cover the full range of building needs of clients. The characteristic of prefabricated and modular design as a cheaper alternative to conventional structures further serves as a good option for the not-too-rich locals.