The Australian construction industry is not innovating fast enough and the fall of Strongbuild is proof, writes Alexia Lidas, observing from the vantage point leading the Design Futures Council (DFC).

NEWS FROM THE FRONT DESK ISSUE NO 413–  UPDATED 9.28 PM: The prefab industry is strong despite Strongbuild falling into voluntary administration. But the industry has big challenges.

UPDATED 6:15 pm: Prefabrication and lightweight timber builder Strongbuild was placed into voluntary administration at 9 am on Thursday morning, after Frasers Australia pulled out of a contract just two weeks from commencement leaving a massive $6 million gap in expected earnings.

EXCLUSIVE: Blockchain might be the missing ingredient that prefabricated homes need to go mainstream. According to Aurecon’s fourth Buildings of the Future report, provided exclusively to The Fifth Estate, “leapfrog”…

A former racehorse training facility on the Mornington Peninsula that hosted the likes of three-time Melbourne Cup winner Makybe Diva has been transformed into a restaurant and brewery that will grow half of its own produce onsite.

Over the next year, industry watchers should expect to see a new piece of construction kit creeping into construction rental fleets.

Arup’s Sydney team has just moved into new digs in Barrack Place and it couldn’t be more pleased.

The debate on the role of architects just ramped up another notch this week, first with a thought piece by Philip Graus, and now Clare Cousins, national president of the Australian Institute of Architects, has her say.

Amazon is making a play for the prefabricated construction and smart home markets, investing in a California startup that makes prefab homes.

For Forza Capital director Adam Murchie, the sustainability focus of the near-complete $85 million Supply Co apartment complex in Richmond is not just about “enviro stuff”.

Designs for a new “green refuge” urban park in the centre of Melbourne have been endorsed by the Future Melbourne Committee. The Market Street parkland development will be the first…

This is the sort of headline that should be at the top of any minister’s inbox who has responsibility for overseeing Australia’s future in a rapidly changing construction world.

Why should we care about the future of buildings? This question was posed last week by Dr Mathew Aitchison, Professor in Architecture and lead for the University of Sydney’s Innovation and Applied Design Lab at August’s Sydney Ideas – The Future of Building.

One of Australia’s first residential buildings with Onyx Solar photovoltaic glass integrated into the facade has been built in Melbourne’s inner suburb of Northcote.

Terry Leckie’s Flow Systems has entered into a partnership with Norsk Hydro and a number of other developers to to redevelop 2000 hectares of land at a former aluminium smelter at Kurri Kurri in NSW’s Hunter Valley.