THE CRYSTAL PALACE – ON-SITE ASSEMBLY

In 1851 the Crystal Palace was built to house The Great Exhibition. Whilst the building was hugely impressive and its future not without tragedy, the story behind its conception and construction was truly remarkable and is relevant to the thinking needed to manufacture a modern city.

Joseph Paxton secured the commission for the Crystal Palace, with just 8 months allowed to not only finalise the design but also construct a building which enclosed an area of 70,000sqm (equivalent to 10 football pitches). He achieved this extraordinary feat by embracing both pre-fabrication and, in particular, On-Site Assembly Lines. At the heart of this achievement was a strong and clear use of modularity in the design and attention to the question “how to build?” rather than “what to build?”. This enabled such quick delivery of the project, for which Paxton also designed and manufactured machines to create an on-site production line to cut, treat and prepare the glazing modules.

Revisiting this thinking, using on-site manufacturing and assembly in conjunction with the use of modern technology, has the potential to make a significant impact on the need to build faster and more cost effectively in order to accommodate a growing and developing population worldwide.

 

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Build, DesignDan Cash