The future of how we build
PwC x Economist Impact
Human moments of problem‑solving, powered by technology, are triggering industry reconfiguration. Discover how modular construction, digital design, and cross-industry collaboration are reinventing how we build.
ViM Build
Watch PwC’s construction sector leader Rafael Pérez Guerra explain how modular construction, digital design, and industrialised delivery are reshaping how we build. Explore the full human story in Economist Impact’s Lives in Motion series, Build.
Building at the intersection of human needs, technology, and industries
It starts with people solving real problems. In Stockholm, housing demand is pushing new ideas from the drawing board into reality. Families need homes sooner, and that urgency is driving a smarter way to build. Architects, planners, and factory teams are redesigning housing around three goals at once: speed, affordability, and sustainability. Sweden’s answer is modular construction. Homes are made with precision in factories, then quickly assembled on site in days––with less waste, fewer delays, and greater certainty. Today, those on-the-ground innovations, from off-site manufacturing to digital design and energy systems, are scaling far beyond housing. What began on factory floors is developing into a broader build domain, where construction firms, manufacturers, technology providers, investors, and insurers work together to deliver infrastructure faster, more sustainably, and at scale.
For executives, the implications are clear: building is no longer a siloed industry. It is a cross-industry ecosystem organised around the human need for places to live, work, and connect. Leaders who act now to industrialise delivery and integrate sustainability will be best positioned to capture shifting value.
Five actions to seize the $13.76tn opportunity in the Build domain
Reimagine your role in the ecosystem
Decide where you create the most value in the build ecosystem—not as a standalone player, but as an orchestrator, integrator, or specialist operating across industry boundaries.
Industrialise construction through modularity and digitalisation
Use AI, automation, and digital twins to scale modular and offsite construction, empowering you to deliver buildings and infrastructure faster, cleaner, and with greater certainty.
Build partnerships to unlock scale and resilience
Use cross-industry partnerships to secure labour, materials, capital, and technology, turning today’s constraints into sources of competitive advantage.
Turn sustainability into a value driver
Embed circular design, low-carbon materials, and energy-efficient systems into every stage of the build lifecycle to reduce costs, manage risk, and open new revenue streams.
Plan for multiple futures
Stress-test your strategy against divergent AI and climate scenarios and invest early in capabilities that will perform across them, regardless of how the future unfolds.
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PwC x Economist Impact
Lives in Motion: Where human stories meet industry shifts. PwC and Economist Impact present a six-part series that reveals how large-scale change—enabled by technology—is reshaping how we move, make, build, feed, power and fuel, and care, through the eyes of those living it.
