Social housing projects have been encouraged around the world for several years now, but lately technology has been used to promote efficiency and economic growth whenever creating them. In London, it has recently been discovered that the demand for housing has been growing so encouraging construction and improving the process is of the upmost importance. To satisfy the urgent need of demand, it's considered that it's necessary to build more than 50,000 units each year. To comply with such a big task, Byrden Wood, a design and operations advisor started working with Cast, a real estate consultant in order to come up with a solution for urban planning and design that such a large project requires.
They created an app called PRISM, this tool allows for the initial design and development phases to be accelerated, providing more time and freedom for the designers when creating their ideas while using the platform. The director for the architecture department of Byrden Wood, told Archdaily:
"New technologies have revolutionized production and efficiency of many industries, from automotive to financial markets and now it's time to incorporate them to the construction industry. While applying new technologies we can make the design and construction process more efficient, hence, faster and more economical. The magnitud of this challenge is so big that we need to use all the tools at our disposal and if they don't exist, we have to invent them. We decided on a free app that is accessible to all. Open code technology will allow for anyone to participate effectively in this process that has as a mission to revolutionize our cities construction industry."
This innovative mentality places London on the front running as the first city in the world to use technology in this way to develop real estate. Information is shared is a precise way by using a series of technical data and urban planning codes that are defined by the map of the city that decodes information graphically. While offering this tool at no cost, it streamlines the design process and creates awareness so more people participate in the urban planning of the city by creating high quality projects in a competitive industry.
