One course that takes Australian prefabricated housing from raw stick to finished home. Built around light timber (LTF) and cold-formed steel (LSF) framing, taught so a beginner can follow it and a professional can check it.
Modern Methods of Construction (MMC / DfMA) is reshaping how low-rise homes get built: framed off site, panelised, delivered and assembled. This course reads that system down to every stud, every fixing, and every NCC clause, using a real 210 m² house, a design bench you can operate, and referencing you can trace.
HT·MODULAR COURSE·13 WEEKS
A first-year Modern Methods of Construction course for the Australian NCC context (climate zones 2 / 5 / 6, non-cyclonic). It teaches how prefabricated light timber (LTF) and cold-formed steel (LSF) wall panels build low-rise homes, from AS 1684 / AS/NZS 4600 framing to envelope R-values to 40 ft container shipping and on-site assembly. Every figure carries an A / B / C reliability grade and is a teaching reference, not engineering certification.
One continuous 13-week course. Each module answers a single question and builds on the last: what MMC is, then how it works, then how it is made, then how it is verified. Every module ends with a diagnostic checkpoint where you judge and defend a real option, not design one from scratch.
MODULE A · WEEKS 1-3
Modern Methods of Construction and DfMA, why they matter now, and how timber and steel framing systems compare. Your first hands- on with the 3D wall tool.
MODULE B · WEEKS 4-7
The engineering: load-bearing frames, continuous load paths, building physics and R-values, and the connections that carry it all through moisture and termite risk.
MODULE C · WEEKS 8-11
From archetype to a real 210 m² case study, then the full DfMA flow: factory to shipping to on- site crane assembly, plus lean production and site quality control.
MODULE D · WEEKS 12-13
Run the live design bench end to end, weigh embodied carbon, and organise NCC evidence with a four-step method. Capstone: choose and defend a full scheme.
Prefer the full topic index? The course draws on 15 technical chapters , from a single stud to a whole sectioned house. Read the standards and glossary.
The week-level outline a student or faculty member can read like a course handbook: module checkpoints fall at Weeks 3, 7 and 11, and Week 13 closes with the Module D checkpoint and the capstone. Full assignment list
13 weeks·scan it like a syllabus
| Week | Topic | What You'll Do | Self-Test |
|---|---|---|---|
| WEEK 01 | What Is Prefab | MMC and DfMA orientation | Misconceptions quiz |
| WEEK 02 | Timber vs Steel | Choose a framing system | Timber vs Steel |
| WEEK 03 | Wall Build-Up LAB | Pull a prefab panel apart in 3D | MODULE A CHECKPOINT |
| WEEK 04 | Structural Frame | Gravity loads and spans | - |
| WEEK 05 | Load Paths | Three continuous chains | - |
| WEEK 06 | Building Physics | Heat, moisture, air | Wall R-value / 7-Star NatHERS |
| WEEK 07 | Connections | Details and durability | Termite & Condensation |
| WEEK 08 | How to Design | Eight housing archetypes | - |
| WEEK 09 | 3D Anatomy LAB | The Eden 23 whole-house cut-away | - |
| WEEK 10 | Build Sequence | DfMA factory to site | Container panels |
| WEEK 11 | On-Site Works | Tolerances, lifting, acceptance | MODULE C CHECKPOINT |
| WEEK 12 | Live Design Console LAB | Hands-on parameter design | - |
| WEEK 13 | Carbon + NCC Standards & Capstone | Close the loop | Embodied Carbon |
Each topic opens its full chapter. Self-tests are short diagnostic quizzes; checkpoint weeks close a module.
A search of Australian and Singaporean undergraduate programs found no course that combines all three of the following under one MMC / DfMA framing. This is a positioning we can defend, phrased as “no closer equivalent was found”, not an absolute claim.
Change one parameter and the whole wall recomputes: R-value, thickness, self-weight, containers per shipment. A tool students operate in class, not a slide they watch.
A whole house exterior split into 19 prefabricated panels that crane into place in sequence. Not a pretty render, a teaching instrument for how prefab actually goes together.
Every figure traces to an NCC clause, volume and page, or an AS standard. Australian MMC content that does this at clause level is rare. We locate sources, we do not certify compliance.
STUDENTS · learn it
Thirteen weeks, from a single stud to a whole sectioned house. Start at week one, or explore any chapter on its own.
TEACHERS · teach it
Use the site as courseware. Worked examples on the live design bench and misconception prompts for tutorials.
FACULTY · adopt it
See how it maps to a first-year syllabus, how it aligns to the NCC, and how it assesses with diagnostic checkpoints.
Three flagship tools carry the course: a whole house you can cut open, a design bench that recomputes live, and a wall you can pull apart. Each is one click away.
Let the site show itself
WHOLE-HOUSE 3D
For faculty and partners. Drag one slider and a section plane sweeps a real 210 m2 home, panel by panel. Drag one slider: 19 panels sweep open and reassemble.
LIVE DESIGN BENCH
For teachers. Change one parameter in a lecture and the whole wall recomputes: R-value, thickness, weight, shipping. R-value, mass and shipping recompute as you drag.
WALL 3D
For students new to the site. Pull a prefab wall apart layer by layer and meet every member by name. 8 timber layers, 9 steel; every member named.
Every page is fully interactive. The narrated auto-tour is temporarily offline.
