The Nation's Largest 'Modular Housing Complex' to Be Established in Sejong City

Start of Construction for 416 Units of Sejong 6-3 Living Zone Integrated Public Rental Housing, Completion and Move-in Scheduled for 2024

Lee Won-jae, the 1st Vice Minister of the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport, is delivering a congratulatory speech at the groundbreaking ceremony of the Sejong Modular Integrated Public Rental Housing Complex.

[Asia Economy Reporter Minyoung Kim] The Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport (MOLIT) and LH announced on the 19th that they will hold a groundbreaking ceremony for a modular integrated public rental housing complex in Sejong Administrative City.

The groundbreaking ceremony will be attended by MOLIT First Vice Minister Wonjae Lee, Sejong Special Self-Governing City Deputy Mayor Kidong Go, Vice President of the Architectural Institute of Korea Kyuyong Kim, and other domestic and foreign guests.

Modular housing is a type of housing that uses Off-Site Construction (OSC) technology, where 70-80% of materials and components such as exterior walls, windows, electrical wiring, plumbing, bathrooms, and kitchen fixtures are prefabricated in box form at a factory, transported to the site, and then installed.

Compared to conventional reinforced concrete construction methods, it can shorten the construction period by about 30%, reduce carbon and waste emissions during the construction phase, and overcome issues such as low productivity, labor shortages, safety, and quality problems in the construction industry, making it an innovative type of housing.

The Sejong City 6-3 Living Zone UR1·UR2 modular integrated public rental housing complex will be constructed with four buildings of seven stories above ground, totaling 416 households. This complex is the largest modular housing project in South Korea by number of units, with main unit sizes ranging from 21 to 44 square meters. The integrated public rental housing complex is scheduled for completion and occupancy in the second half of 2024.

This modular housing project is evaluated to have leveraged the characteristics and advantages of modular housing not only by ensuring comfortable residential performance equal to or better than general apartment buildings through the introduction of duplex terrace units and stepped facades to secure diverse elevations and sufficient daylight, but also in terms of aesthetics and urban landscape.

Since 2014, MOLIT has developed core technologies for modular housing construction, completing the Cheonan Dujeong modular housing (40 units, 6 floors) and Seoul Gayang Happy Housing (30 units, 6 floors), and is currently constructing the tallest modular housing in Korea, a 13-story building with 106 units in Yeongdeok, Giheung-gu, Yongin.

Furthermore, to grow the still nascent domestic modular housing industry, public orders for modular housing are being expanded. Incentives such as relaxed building standards on floor area ratio, building coverage ratio, and height restrictions for modular housing are also being promoted to encourage voluntary modular housing construction in the private sector.

LH, the project owner, has formed a project inspection council composed of experts familiar with modular construction methods to regularly monitor the project. The council consists of eight external experts from various fields and stages of the project and was introduced to establish standards for modular housing projects by organizing the overall process of the project, including ordering methods, to apply smart construction technology to housing projects.

First Vice Minister Wonjae Lee of MOLIT stated, "Modular housing is an innovation icon in the housing construction industry that can solve labor issues such as the aging of skilled workers and the decrease of domestic skilled labor, which our housing construction industry currently faces, while also expecting effects such as shortening construction periods, improving construction productivity through smart construction technology, solving on-site safety issues, and reducing environmental costs. MOLIT plans to continuously promote technology development, demonstration, and institutional improvements related to modular housing by strengthening cooperation with industry, academia, and research institutes to revitalize modular housing."

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.