Australian tech company offers innovative solution to housing and construction crises

PT Blink, an Australian technology company, has emerged as a potential game-changer in addressing Australia’s housing crisis and the construction industry’s downturn.

Dubbed the ‘IKEA of construction’, PT Blink’s innovative Blink DMI (Design-Manufacture-Integrate) method allows developers and builders to complete projects 40-60 percent faster than traditional construction timelines.

Wayne Larsen, CEO of PT Blink, said, “The way we’ve built for the last 100 years is fundamentally unsustainable given today’s economic realities.”

The company’s approach blends digital and physical technology to deliver buildings as a kit of manufactured components. The core of the system is a unique post-tensioned steel structure manufactured off-site and transported in flat-pack form, which can be rapidly assembled on-site.

In a recent Queensland multi-storey residential development, PT Blink’s method built seven floors in just 11 days, reducing the project time from 16 months to eight months.

This innovative approach comes at a critical time for Australia’s construction industry. According to the Australian Securities and Investments Commission (ASIC), more than 7,700 companies entered external administration between July 2023 and March 2024, a 36.2 percent increase from the previous year. The construction sector accounted for 27.7 percent of all insolvencies.

Simultaneously, Australia faces a severe housing shortage, with over 290,000 residents homeless or waitlisted for public housing.

PT Blink’s method addresses key challenges in traditional construction by shifting much of the work to controlled off-site facilities, minimizing weather delays, material wastage, and on-site safety risks.

The company claims its approach can deliver:

• Projects 40-60 percent faster than traditional methods
• Higher quality and precision through design-led processes and advanced manufacturing
• Significantly higher Internal Rates of Return for developers
• Substantial reduction in construction waste and embodied carbon
• Creation of manufacturing jobs and greater workforce participation

Larsen emphasized the need for fundamental change in the construction industry, stating, “We can’t keep making small fixes to a broken system. It’s time to change the methodology—change everything fundamentally.”

As Australia grapples with its construction and housing crises, PT Blink’s innovative approach offers a potential solution that could transform the economics of multi-storey property development and significantly improve housing supply.