Achieving Housing Delivery the Hybrid Way
Last week we took a whirlwind trip to China to explore both the city of Shanghai and visit global manufacturing facilities to enhance the supply chain of our built form projects. I was blown away by the scale and efficiency of the places we visited. From the airport to trains, motorways and central districts the scale is immense, and yet it all seems to work so well.
They say the definition of insanity is doing the same thing over and over again, whilst expecting a different result. Following very significant effort by both industry and government to improve the efficiency of upfront planning and infrastructure, it’s time to place that same energy and effort into ways to build more efficiently and without compromise.
It’s pleasing to have representatives of Space Collective Architects, Atlas Construction and Gollux Group on the trip with us as we look at ways to collaborate on the best possible result we can deliver, especially for our ultimate homeowners. Thanks to Chris Sun from Fount who did an excellent job co-ordinating our trip and liaising between our local consultants and offshore manufacturers.
Looking beyond our shores for solutions to create more housing faster and more affordably, at a time when demand for trades and supplies has never been higher, seems obvious. The housing industry isn’t just competing with itself, it’s competing with mining, defence, major infrastructure enhancements, plus a plethora of government projects.
Our goal is to deliver the variety of homes our community expects but faster and more affordably, whilst ensuring overall quality continues to improve.
Travelling at speeds up to 345km/hr we made our way to Hefei some 426kms out of Shanghai in under 2 hours! As a side note these high-speed trains in Perth could provide a 1 hour commute to Bunbury and under 2 hours to Geraldton.
We headed to Hefei specifically to visit Zbom who have been engaged to manufacture the cabinetry for Alma Square, after much research and work behind the scenes. Zbom was founded in 1998 offering comprehensive home solutions from kitchens to entire homes for millions of families worldwide. I love their mission statement “We partner with artisans worldwide who share a vision: Turning imaginations of homes into reality”. Their head office and multitude of factories in the Hefei region highlight what is possible when partnering with a global offshore manufacturing partner. Jacky and Kevin from Gollux Group specialise in the installation of cabinetry and have been working with Zbom for a number of years across both Sydney and Perth with the most recent Perth project being the award-winning Cirque Duet by Erben. When deciding to complete a portion of the supply chain offshore it is incredibly important we partner with experienced professionals and the references for both Zbom and Gollox have been second to none.
Alma Square has recently come to life as the structure rises from the ground revealing the offsite completed facade. Seeing the prototype kitchen, bathroom and robe cabinetry for the first time was another significant step on our journey to completion. There is no doubt the precision of automated fabrication of the cabinetry boards followed by the assembly in a controlled environment create an excellent finish. Level 1 and 2 cabinetries go into production in a month and we look forward to keeping our Buyers informed as the fitout phase of the project commences.
Back in Shanghai we took a day to explore this remarkable city by foot. Taking a jog along the North Bund, exploring the 6-level planning museum to understand not just how this city has grown and what their clear plan is for future growth, taking a ride 121 floors or 562m up Shanghai Tower to see the city from above, visiting a sneaky Speakeasy in the French quarter and finishing with a banquet dinner and drinks on the bund. Some 32,800 steps, 8 metro train rides and about 21 hours later we had simply scratched the surface enough to know we needed to come back.
In 2026 there are so many components of everyday life manufactured offshore freeing up local trades and suppliers to work to within natural capacity constraints. Celsius looks forward to continuing to evolve a hybrid model that embraces the best of offshore, offsite and onsite delivery. Let’s keep moving forward at bullet speed.
All the best
Richard