Thirty eight social apartments just south of Fremantle were finished with concrete block wall panels and bathroom pods made in a Perth factory. The time saving is the headline. The bigger shift is that Western Australia has started moving masonry itself off site.
Western Australia has always built in masonry. Double brick is the default, bricklayers set the pace, and most alternative construction pitches in the state have asked builders to give that up.
The North Coogee project did not. It kept the block walls and changed where they were made.
The WA Government confirmed on 10 October that 38 social apartments in North Coogee were completed in 14 months, with prefabricated bathroom pods and masonry wall panels built off site while siteworks were underway. The government puts the saving at eight months against a conventional build.
What was built in North Coogee?
The development holds 12 one bedroom apartments, 24 two bedroom apartments and two studios. It was delivered by two Western Australian businesses: developer PARC Developments, and Tyrone Group, which manufactured the prefabricated components.
The project came to government the other way round. PARC put it forward in response to a 2024 Call for Submissions from the Department of Housing and Works, and the department then signed an off the plan contract to acquire every dwelling, according to the government’s July 2025 announcement.
Funding came through the Commonwealth’s $2 billion Social Housing Accelerator, a payment to the states announced in June 2023. Western Australia’s share was $209.2 million, which the state says will deliver more than 260 new social homes and refurbish more than 300 existing ones.
The October release describes North Coogee as a $23.5 million joint state and federal project. On that figure, the build works out at roughly $620,000 per apartment. The release does not break down what the figure covers.
A community housing provider will manage the apartments, with tenants expected to move in later this year.
How did prefabricated masonry walls shorten the build?
The saving comes from running work side by side instead of one after another.
On a conventional masonry apartment build, walls go up course by course once the floor below is ready. Wet areas then work through their own queue of trades, typically plumbing, waterproofing, tiling and fit off, room by room.
At North Coogee, the walls and bathrooms were being built in a factory while the site was still being prepared. Tyrone’s published company history records 360 prefabricated concrete block wall panels transported and installed on the project. It also says the company began modular wet area production in 2025 with 55 prefabricated bathroom units.
What is a prefabricated masonry wall panel?
A prefabricated masonry wall panel is a section of brick or concrete block wall that is laid and cured in a factory, then trucked to site and lifted into place by crane as a single unit. The finished wall is still masonry. What changes is where and when it is built, which lets wall construction run at the same time as site preparation instead of after it.
Why does it matter that the walls are still masonry?
Most of Western Australia’s alternative construction in social housing so far has changed the material as well as the method.
Dale Alcock Homes used prefabricated timber framed panels on 12 social homes in Hamilton Hill, built in nine months from slab pour. Ten homes at Champion Lakes used prefabricated timber walls and roofs. The Wheatbelt program uses factory built modular homes made in Wangara.
North Coogee keeps concrete block, the material Western Australian buyers, certifiers and trades already know. What changes is the process. That is a narrower change than switching to timber or steel, and arguably an easier one for a masonry market to accept.
It kept the block walls and changed where they were made.
Tyrone says it was the first company in Australia to manufacture prefabricated masonry walls. We have not been able to independently confirm that, and it is reported here as the company’s own claim.
The work does not leave the trade. Blocks are still laid by people. They are laid under cover on a factory floor, on a steady program, rather than across a weather exposed scaffold.
How does the eight month saving compare with other states?
The 14 months is a measured result. The 22 months it is compared against is the government’s estimate of a traditional build, not a second project. The eight months is best read as a credible estimate rather than a controlled trial.
Taken at face value, it is a cut of about 36 per cent.
New South Wales has reported its own numbers on smaller jobs. The NSW Government says modular social homes in Shellharbour went from development approval to completion in around 14 weeks, and that modern methods deliver homes up to 20 per cent faster than traditional construction. It expects 90 social homes to be delivered using these methods across the state by the end of 2026.
In Victoria, the state says more than 70 modular social homes have been delivered across regional areas, with more than 350 due by mid 2028.
Most of those projects are detached or low rise homes. North Coogee is a multi residential masonry building, which makes it a different and less common test of off site methods.
Where is Western Australia taking off site construction next?
The state says nearly half of the Department of Housing and Works’ social housing construction program now uses alternative construction methods.
Manufacturing capacity is following. This year’s State Budget committed $48 million to two advanced manufacturing facilities for housing and infrastructure, helping Built Living and Atlas Precast establish and expand plants at Neerabup and Kwinana.
Earlier this year, 15 local manufacturers shared $49 million in Housing Innovation Fund grants. Tyrone says it has also expanded in 2026 with a purpose built Neerabup factory for wet areas and masonry wall panels.
What does North Coogee show builders about government work?
Two things stand out.
The first is procurement. This was a private developer’s project, bought off the plan by government through an open Call for Submissions. That route sits alongside traditional tendering and the state’s builder panels.
The second is how the job is packaged. When walls and bathrooms arrive finished, the on site scope shifts toward footings, structure, crane lifts, accurate set out and services connections.
The bricklaying and wet area trades still exist on the job. A share of that work now sits inside a factory supply contract rather than a site subcontract.
THE GOOD BUILDER TAKE
The eight months is the number the release leads with, but it is measured against a build that never happened.
The more durable signal is what Western Australia chose to prefabricate. Not a new material. The material the state already builds with.
For builders and bricklayers in masonry markets, that is worth watching. Off site construction is no longer only a timber and steel conversation, and the next government project in your pipeline may arrive with its walls already built.
Western Australia did not abandon masonry at North Coogee. It moved it indoors. If the result holds across more projects, the prefabrication debate in masonry states shifts from whether to replace the material to where the wall gets built.
For more conversations with builders working through delivery methods and capacity, listen to The Good Builder Podcast.
Frequently asked questions
The WA Government says the 38 apartments were completed in 14 months. It estimates a conventional build would have taken about eight months longer, around 22 months in total.
It is a section of brick or concrete block wall laid and cured in a factory, then trucked to site and craned into position as one unit. The wall is still masonry. The difference is where and when it is built.
Developer PARC Developments delivered the project with Tyrone Group, a Western Australian builder and manufacturer that produced the prefabricated masonry wall panels and bathroom pods.
Through the Commonwealth’s $2 billion Social Housing Accelerator, of which Western Australia received $209.2 million. The WA Government describes the project as a $23.5 million joint state and federal investment.
Related articles
- A $27 Million Modular Program Will Put 54 Social Homes Across the Wheatbelt
- New Construction Methods Accelerate Social Housing at Record Pace
- GTT Delivers 32 New Social Homes Across Western Sydney Using Modern Construction Methods
- Western Australia Backs 15 Local Manufacturers in $49 Million Push to Build Homes Faster
Last updated: 12 October 2026.
General information only. This article provides general information about industry developments and is not legal, financial or professional advice. Figures are drawn from the sources linked and were current at the date of publication. Readers should seek advice specific to their circumstances before making decisions.
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