Scaling Innovation: How OFFSITE Is Transforming Western Australia's Housing Crisis

From sacrificial formwork to sophisticated manufacturing: Clarinda Ho and Norm Roberts are leading OFFSITE’s ambitious mission to close construction’s productivity gap by building more efficiently and redefining housing delivery in Western Australia through modern methods of construction, scaling affordability at industrial speed.

In an industry often resistant to change, Western Australian company OFFSITE represents a bold departure from traditional building practices. By bringing forward a five‑year plan to completion in less than a year, OFFSITE has proven that speed, scale and performance can coexist - and that affordable living is a design choice backed by a manufacturing system, not a compromise in quality.

What began as a 2009 venture focused on sacrificial formwork has evolved into one of Australia's most ambitious modern methods of construction (MMC) operations, with the mass production of prefabricated wall panels, floor and roof cassettes, stair cassettes, and other timber components, enabling the delivery of thousands of homes annually.

From Russia with Ambition

OFFSITE's transformation story begins with an unlikely journey to Russia in 2019. The business, originally built around innovative concrete formwork patents, identified a need for timber frame capabilities to complement their existing operations. This led them to acquire a 2014 Weinmann timber framing line from Russia—one of the first HOMAG Weinmann lines in Australia. 

"That Weinmann equipment became the backbone of initial operations in timber frame prefabrication," explains Chief Strategy & Operating Officer Clarinda Ho, who, alongside Executive Chair Norm Roberts, had been engaged as ad hoc consultants with the business for over a decade before leading its acquisition.

The turning point came in late 2023 when the original owners sought an exit. Ho and Roberts assembled a consortium of founding Western Australian shareholders to acquire and recapitalise the business, setting the stage for dramatic expansion.

Manufacturing at Scale

Today, OFFSITE operates from a facility that Ho describes as "three lines that go down the length of a rugby field"—three automated production lines capable of manufacturing wall panels with remarkable efficiency. The operation includes additional hand-built capacity for architectural nuances and houses one of only two Hundegger SPEED-Cut 480 machines in Australia.

This is the mindset behind modern methods of construction (MMC) and design for manufacture and assembly (DfMA). It is also the mindset OFFSITE have applied to turn a fragmented pipeline into industrialised housing production.

The manufacturing process is highly systematised: automated lines frame and nail panels together, add exterior components and cladding, then place finished products onto cradles for shipping. On-site installation of a house's exteriors using cranes can be completed in 2 to 3 days—a stark contrast to traditional builds, which can take up to 18 months, including fit-out and finishing trades.

"Our Manager - Design Ron Sommerlatt describes the Hundegger SC-480  as having the equivalent productivity of 30 skilled carpenters working around the clock," Ho notes, emphasising the remarkable efficiency gains achieved through further automation.

Ron Sommerlatt was recruited from CarbonLite in Victoria via Germany and brings international experience crucial to DfMA — skills and expertise that Ho describes as scarce in the Australian market.

Delivering Value Beyond Cost

While OFFSITE achieves 15-25% cost savings using scale and repeatability compared to masonry builds, the value proposition extends far beyond initial construction costs. The company approaches housing as asset manufacturing, considering lifecycle management (LCAM), maintenance costs, and energy requirements, viewed through both design and manufacturing lenses.

"We've been looking at that from that angle [LCAM] from day one, so it's allowed us to move away from traditional procurement criteria, which tends to lean towards price as a criterion," Ho explains.

The manufacturing approach enables significant site work reductions and allows for easy upgrades to Passivhaus standards for an estimated 15-20% additional cost. 

Executive Chair Norm Roberts explains the economics, "Keep in mind we're a very small cost of the total build between the land and the finishings. They can upgrade either through wraps or actually nominate passive for about 15-20% more of our cost... and now, all of a sudden, you've got a Passivhaus."

Perhaps most significantly, OFFSITE’s building methodology enables approximately 20% increases in lot yields due to their ability to install on-site in closer proximity without sacrificing amenity.

Scaling to Meet Demand

The company's expansion story accelerated dramatically in September 2024 when an opportunity arose to acquire two production lines from a Geelong operation. 

Within weeks, OFFSITE had secured the equipment, shipped it to Western Australia, and then relocated in April 2025 to accommodate the expanded product capacity.

The housing “product” is not a single design; it’s a platform: common structural grids, MEP zones, panel interfaces and envelope systems that allow typological variety without re‑engineering each time. Mass customisation via façade options, internal packs and performance tiers, without breaking flow on the lines.  Critically, this product mindset clarifies where margin is earned: in throughput and reliability, rather than in one-off markups on components.

The company has achieved a nameplate capacity of 2,500+ units annually. The Perth market alone demands 25,000 houses annually, but the industry can only supply 15,000.

"Our production order book is full until March next year," Ho reports, driven primarily by developer adoption of buying the houses (60% complete with installation by OFFSITE) as a product at scale rather than traditional builders building on site.

Educating the Market

OFFSITE’s market education approach emerged from a frustrating reality: builder markups were undermining their value proposition. When a government agency questioned whether OFFSITE delivered promised speed and cost benefits, the truth revealed a different story. While OFFSITE completed installations in 1-3 days, builders took 11 months to finish projects. More significantly, builders marked up OFFSITE quotes by 65% to 98% to end clients.

This prompted a strategic shift. Committed to affordable, energy-efficient housing, OFFSITE developed standardised designs and worked directly with MMC-familiar builders to demonstrate true capabilities and pricing,

“We’re deliberately not a builder, but we have our own designs for manufacturing, then DfMA’ing them,” Ho explains. This strategy proved actual pricing points while demonstrating how manufacturing at scale with repeatable designs delivers programs over 26 weeks—bypassing traditional builder margins that obscured MMC’s real benefits.

OFFSITE is working with several builders who program their schedule to the product, not the other way around. “We are working with the broader delivery team to achieve a completion time of about 26 weeks after OFFSITE completes installation, targeting a 12 to 14 weeks in the future, explains Ho. “The gold standard overseas for this type of build is 10 weeks to completion.

The company engages extensively with government stakeholders, advocating for procurement reform and clearer definitions of MMC. Ho argues that the government could be more impactful if they specified outcome requirements more precisely. For example, through standardising particular housing configurations procured at scale, nominating a 26-week program, requiring minimum asset performance and energy efficiency, and setting target price points in which the built form is to be delivered, and mandating specific methodologies to be used where appropriate.

Future Ambitions

Looking ahead, OFFSITE’s priorities are clear: complete the commissioning of the expanded capacity, broaden the ready-to-build design library, and continue to compress cycle times from installation to handover. OFFSITE’s focus remains firmly on improving manufacturing and construction productivity.   Longer-term plans include a second "Bravo site" facility, although Ho acknowledges that this represents a four-year, $150 million-plus investment decision.

Roberts explains why competition isn't an immediate concern, pointing to the massive barriers to entry and the Nullarbor as a physical logistics barrier for possible east coast competitors. Any competitor would face a minimum four-year timeline to achieve installed capacity, necessitating substantial financial resources to operate at the necessary scale. "Even at $150 million, that hasn't paid for the completed factory," Roberts notes. "That's basically you've got your site and your down payment on the equipment."

The company has already received inquiries from interstate markets, with backloading economics making supply to Adelaide a viable option. Queensland has also expressed interest, despite the distance.

Beyond expansion, OFFSITE maintains broader industry development goals, promoting and advocating MMC. "Our purpose is to infect the Western Australian community with the benefits of MMC," Ho states. "We are on a mission."

Industry Transformation

OFFSITE’s rapid growth reflects broader industry momentum around modern construction methods. Ho notes an increasing alignment between their messaging and recent government reports, industry publications, research, and member peak body initiatives through organisations like prefabAUS.

The company's philosophy extends beyond its own success to supporting the broader supply chain ecosystem. "If everyone wins, we win. There is a stronger and sustainable supply chain," Ho emphasises, describing their approach in ensuring local and national SME and corporate suppliers remain as strategic supply chain partners.

As Australia grapples with housing supply challenges, OFFSITE’s combination of manufacturing scale, design innovation, and strategic market development offers a compelling model for addressing critical infrastructure needs through industrial-scale housing production.

For the wider industry, the call to action is immediate: developers must establish repeatable typologies and confirm quarterly volumes; builders must reprogram for MMC and protect manufacturing and installation production windows; the government needs to procure based on outcomes and aggregate demand.

OFFSITE's trajectory from concrete formwork specialist to major MMC manufacturer demonstrates how strategic vision, technical capability, and market timing can converge to create transformative industry change. “Industrialising housing is how we make affordable living - not just cheaper building - a reality. The only way out of a supply crisis is scale, and the only way to scale is to manufacture.”