The Saudi Housing Ministry has revealed building a 124-square-meter house in two days only, using precast modular concrete, as part of stepping up its efforts to accelerate innovation and increase homeownership, Invest-Gate reports.
Katerra American construction company, along with Saudi engineers, commenced constructing the one-story house on December 23 noon to finish building and furnishing it by December 27 afternoon, according to a ministerial statement on December 26.
The project is part of the government’s Building Technology Motivation Initiative, which is aimed at promoting the adoption of modern construction techniques and technologies as well as strengthening the kingdom’s private sector, the Saudi ministry added.
Commenting on the initiative, Saudi Arabia’s Minister of Housing Majed bin Abdullah Al-Hogail said increasing innovation in the construction sector is important to Saudi Arabia’s plan to raise homeownership to 60% in 2020 and 70% by 2030.
He also added that the initiative is part of Saudi Vision 2030 and it targets speeding up construction works as well as providing citizens of the kingdom with high-quality, competitively priced housing, while stimulating localization of the Saudi construction processes, according to the statement.
The kingdom seems to be already ramping up the adoption of disruptive technology, as Saudi Arabia’s National Housing and Industrial Development and Logistics Program announced this November completing work on the region’s first 3D-printed building in the capital, Riyadh in partnership with Dutch company CyBe, a pioneer in the field.
The project is aimed at keeping “abreast of the technological progress in the world of future construction, to benefit from the latest technologies in the world and to be the first to promote the adoption of innovative construction techniques,” the Saudi housing ministry said in an earlier statement.
It also targets strengthening the Saudi local industry, in line with the objectives of the Saudi Vision 2030 and the National Transformation 2020 Program.
