Literature Review: Advantages Of Pods Construction, Kitchen And Bathroom Pods (Research Paper Sample)

LITERATURE REVIEW: KITCHEN AND BATHROOM PODS
INTRODUCTION
A pod is a ready-made cell delivered to a site and just slotted in. Kitchen and bathroom pods are mostly used in students’ hostels, offices and hotels. Pods have ability to minimize site waste as compared to other constructions methods. Kitchen and bathroom pods are significant where repetitive bathroom or kitchen designs are done hence massive production is justified
Advantages of pods construction
* On site wastage is reduced.
* Critical activities and trade visits to site are reduced.
* Building time during construction is reduced by up to 80%.
* There is an option of customization of the bathroom or kitchen pods.
(Blismas et al, 2006)
Disadvantages of pod construction.
1 Design options of kitchen and bathroom pods are limited
2 High initial cost of installation as compared to traditional.
3 Require technical assistance to install and repair.
DESIGN
During the design stage, especially the finishing and fitting stage, material usage is optimized to reduce waste. In bathroom pod design, approximately a quarter of the floor area is typically used. It also has the highest usage in terms of facilities and service provision in such a space. Pre-production of bathroom and kitchen pods samples is necessary in order to get client acceptance as well as comments. Some changes pertaining to dimensions of the pods, building, inspection process and framing are important.
Design Process
The design of kitchen and bathroom pods involves several steps:
* Design types and Pod Quantities
* Size and Shape
* Standardization
* Drainage Design
* Fixtures and Finishes
Diagram 1: Bathroom pod design process
* Design types and Pod Quantities
For each new bathroom produced the following procedure is required:
1 3D Modelling
2 Prototyping
3 Certification
4 Production line setup
5 Machine programming
6 Production Engineering
In a bathroom pod design, the efficiency is mostly affected by the amount of pods and design types used. Reducing the design types reduces cost significantly. For viable projects, the ratio of number of pods to the designs should not be less than 50:1 with the ideal being 100:1. (Gibb, 2007)
* Size and Shape
The maximum recommended dimensions for bathroom pods is approximately 2.3m by 3.0m internally. Moreover, the ideal bathroom layout should have 4 walls with no more than 6 walls.
Diagram 2: Bathroom pod maximum dimensions 2.3 x 3.0m (Pan et al., 2012
* Standardization
The cost efficiency of the manufacturing process can be increased by designing standardized components of the bathroom in multiple pod types.
Diagram 3: Bathroom pod’s standardized components
* Drainage Design
The number of drainage points is reduced in the bathroom design so as to eliminate inaccuracies in during concrete works and also installation errors. Methods used to penetrations include:
* Use of single strip to serve both shower and bathroom.
* Use of 40mm PVC in the wall cavity.
* Connecting P trap toilets to the stack above the slab.
* Fixtures and Finishes
The quality of finishes and fixtures of the bathroom pods is not affected. The same ones used in traditional models can be used in this modern design model. A high quality concrete finish is required before the bathroom pods is installed.
A slab variation of not more than 3mm is required for installations with no additional packers. While a variation of 15mm is allowed for those with additional packers.
Diagram 4: Kitchen pod finishes and fixtures
MANUFACTURING
The manufacturing process produces waste less than 1% to landfill and 0% waste on site. The process is based on procurement process that maximizes material use and better resource management. Moreover, the process benefits from sustained flow that allows high quality control through production chain management.
Through a careful Kitchen and bathroom pod design, recycling of materials and management of waste helps reduce levels of waste to below 1% of the processed material in the factory. The manufacturing process uses Glass Fibre Reinforced Plastic which produces dust. This dust is usually disposed to the landfill since it is usually negligible. (Alexander and Tasker, 2002)
Light Steel Frame (LSF) pods structural components are used. They come pre-cut and pre-punched to the factory hence no waste is generated from them.
Diagram 5: Image showing prefabricated pods in the factory
TRANSPORTATION
During transportation of pods, plastic sheets that are reusable are used which are later returned to the factory when the delivery is done. This ensures very minimal waste on site. The pods can be shipped or delivered in enclosed trucks. The mode of transportation for the pods is determined by its size.
A project schedule should be planned carefully to include transportation of the pods in order to ensure that the project time is not affected. Upon arrival, the pods will be set in the building before the building front goes up.
Diagram 6: Image showing pod shipment
The transportation of the pods from the factory to the site is a process that requires a lot of planning beforehand. If done correctly it...