As a cost- and time-saving technique, modular construction has long had a great future ahead of it. Arguably, it still does, with off-site manufacturing of essential building components a useful strategy for some projects in a time of projected construction labor shortages and higher material costs.
Yet obstacles remain. Even before the coronavirus pandemic, modular construction suffered from lingering and generally outdated recollections of cheap prefab components or the early days of the mobile home industry, according to builders who use the technique effectively. Then the pandemic hit, knocking the construction industry for a loop, and with it modular construction, especially its use for building hotels.