PanelUp, a prefab construction system incorporating roof and wall panels from Bondor, was used to complete a duplex build in the Sydney suburb of Matraville in just 10 days.

Built by the Illawarra-based Unique Style Homes, the architecturally designed residence features the NSW innovation PanelUp, a prefab construction system incorporating Bondor’s SolarSpan roof panels and InsulWall wall panels. The open plan living home is a spacious two-storey duplex measuring 540 square metres in area, and incorporating 4 bedrooms, 2 living areas, 4 bathrooms and 3 outdoor areas.

Unique Style Homes director Sasha Veselinovic, who also owns the offsite manufacturing company, PanelUp Systems developed the prefab system over seven years, combining Bondor’s roof panels and wall panels with 3D BIM computer technology and custom-made machinery to speed up construction by more than 50 per cent.

Observing that his prefab system was the fastest panelised house construction system in Australia, Veselinovic stated that PanelUp could help complete a two-storey house to lockup from the slab up to the roof in just seven days. A family home can be ready for its new owners in three to four months ahead of traditional construction methods.

“We use 3D BIM software to model each project and manufacture every house component offsite at our North Wollongong factory, from external and internal walls to prefabricated floor cassettes, steel fabrications, bathroom pods, timber frames and insulated roofing panels.

“Everything is then trucked to the site, fitted together perfectly and can be erected by virtually any carpenter.

“It is a great alternative to traditional construction methods and can especially provide savings due to reduced labour costs.

“A PanelUp prefab home is built twice as fast, offers twice as many benefits, but costs less than a traditional home. We also offer a lockup stage only to owner builders and other trade professionals.

“Our system also offers a huge return on energy savings over the life of a home, as InsulWall and SolarSpan panels form a complete thermal shell that significantly exceeds current Australian requirements for energy ratings. Anybody searching for a perfectly insulated home or passive home will come knocking on our doors.

“Our building system is helping to reduce the environmental footprint of Australian homes, something we are enormously proud of as a business with a sustainability focus. We are presently 99 per cent paper-free and all material off-cuts in the factory are fully recycled,” Veselinovic concluded.

Currently, Unique Style Homes builds around 15 prefab homes a year, but has the capacity to complete one unit every week at its factory. The company also builds small modular homes and granny flats in Sydney, Southern Highlands and Illawarra using its modular system, where homes are fully completed in the factory and then transported to site.

Bondor NSW state manager Paul Adams considers the PanelUp prefab system as a significant development in residential prefabricated construction in Australia.

“This is important given the current high demand for affordable housing, especially given the need for the rapid rebuild of our recently bushfire ravaged regional communities, with families unable to build for extended periods, forced to live in sheds and portable homes,” Adams said.

A rapid build prefabricated residential building system is a reality with PanelUp, using Bondor Insulated Panels’ locally manufactured, energy-efficient roof and wall system technology.

Watch the construction progress on Unique Style Home’s Facebook page and PanelUp Systems’ Instagram page.