Understanding success factors and challenges to circular industrialised housing: An interdisciplinary, process-driven approach

Abstract

he integration of Circular Economy principles with Industrialised Construction presents a crucial pathway for addressing the housing and climate crises. Industrialised Construction encompasses a controlled manufacturing approach, including prefabrication, off-site manufacturing, and on-site fabrication methods such as 3D printing, to produce repeatable products and reconfigurable systems that increasingly integrate digitalisation and Industry 4.0 technologies. However, scholarship on practical implementation across different national contexts remains limited, whilst existing frameworks are entrenched in linear approaches. This interdisciplinary study integrates practitioner knowledge across four distinct fields categorised as policymakers and disseminators, housing providers, designers, and off-site contractors to refine a process-driven lifecycle framework developed by the authors. The framework is structured around four key circular process types, rather than linear project stages: (re)planning, (re)designing, (re)manufacturing, and (dis)assembly. Drawing on interviews and survey analysis with 31 participants working at the forefront of applied circular and industrialised housing across the United Kingdom, the Netherlands, and Spain, success factors and challenges are identified and compared. The findings highlight the critical influence of the (re)planning process, cultural and governance factors, and identify new sub-themes for the lifecycle framework. The study provides best practice insights, supporting the transfer of Circular Industrialised Housing innovations across contexts with varying maturity, particularly within social and affordable housing.