Rethinking the box
IDP Group Inc. is a group of companies under one umbrella located in Chesterville, Ontario. The group has a seasoned 25-year background in interior construction, and they’ve used that expertise to shift their focus to innovative modular construction. The company’s Managing Partner, Hamed Asl said to think of modular construction as building with Lego: they make the pieces in a factory and then assemble them into scalable structures. This became a key innovation focus for IDP Group in an industry where things like speed, cost, and material shortages have become areas of concern.
Finding the right fit
IDP Group noted that the ISC Testing Stream played a crucial role in testing and scaling their technology. Before applying, the group had a mockup of their modular intensive care unit (ICU) that they designed and built in response to hospitals reaching capacity due to COVID-19, but they struggled to take off due to procurement barriers. They decided to apply to the Testing Stream, and once they passed evaluation, they were matched with the Royal Canadian Navy as their testing partner.
The Navy was looking for an off-grid, insulated, modular, scalable, portable centre for their new training program. Since simulation training can’t be done from home, The Navy needed a COVID-resilient space where training could be refined and executed at a faster pace. For this test, IDP Group built the iNexTT Centre, which is drywall-free and equipped with advanced air filtration and easy-to-clean surfaces to help keep trainees safe from COVID-19. Hamed highlighted that the Navy’s ambition to innovate made their partnership a great fit, noting that they pushed for a solar-powered facility and helped the group incorporate automation into their production lines.
This project allowed IDP’s prototype to be tested on a new scale, accelerating the course to their future plans for innovating larger buildings for a broader number of uses. Hamed noted, to have a platform, to be exposed to the Navy, to find the right fit – it changes everything. You now have proof for anyone else who wants to talk about precedent.
