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Offsite Construction for Affordable Housing: Melbourne Build

Offsite Construction for Affordable Housing: Melbourne Build
Melbourne Build Expo 2026, 25–26 November, MCEC

Company News / Events

Pistis Group Co-founder to Chair Melbourne Build Panel on Offsite Construction for Affordable Housing

Dr Iris Celestine Tran Nguyen, co-founder of Australia–Vietnam enterprise Pistis Group, will chair a panel on offsite construction and affordable housing at the Modern Methods of Construction Summit at Melbourne Build Expo 2026 on 25 November.

By Pistis Group · Published

MELBOURNE — Dr Iris Celestine Tran Nguyen, co-founder of Pistis Group, will chair a panel discussion on how offsite construction could help Australia deliver affordable housing at scale, according to the official program for Melbourne Build Expo 2026.

The session, titled "Unleashing the Potential of Offsite Construction for Affordable Housing", is scheduled for to , at the Melbourne Convention and Exhibition Centre (MCEC). It opens the expo's Modern Methods of Construction (MMC) Summit.

What the panel will examine

The session outline published by organisers frames the discussion around one central question: whether moving a larger share of homebuilding into factories can help close Australia's housing gap.

Panellists are expected to weigh the potential benefits of offsite methods, including tighter quality control, less material waste and shorter build programs. They will set these against the obstacles that have slowed wider uptake. Organisers list those obstacles as cost structures, supply chain integration, regulatory frameworks and public perceptions of factory-built homes.

The panel brings together people from development, construction, manufacturing and policy.

Panel line-up

Chairperson

  • Dr Iris Celestine Tran Nguyen, co-founder of Pistis Group Dr Iris Celestine Tran NguyenCo-founder, Pistis Group

Dr Tran Nguyen will be joined by:

  • Helen Kuo, Partner, FK Helen KuoPartner, FK
  • Gabriel Solorzano Torres, Executive Director, Melbourne Polytechnic Gabriel Solorzano TorresExecutive Director – Commercial, Sustainability and Infrastructure, Melbourne Polytechnic
  • Ian Briggs, Director, Plus Studio Ian BriggsDirector, Plus Studio
  • Dean Spencer, Director, TTW Dean SpencerDirector, TTW

Part of a two-day MMC program

The affordable housing panel is the first of six sessions in the MMC Summit stream.

Later on 25 November, the summit continues at with a panel on smart materials in the built environment. At , Waco Tao, Executive Chair of Prefab Council Australia, will chair a discussion on modular construction.

On 26 November, the sessions cover three topics:

  • : scaling MMC amid supply chain disruption and labour shortages
  • : regulatory barriers to MMC adoption
  • : sustainable material selection

The regulation panel includes Shane Keating, Executive Director of Building Policy at the Housing Industry Association (HIA).

About Melbourne Build Expo 2026

Melbourne Build Expo, organised by Oliver Kinross and Nineteen Group, returns to MCEC on – for its second edition. Organisers reported that the inaugural event in October 2025 drew 12,946 attendees, and they are planning for more than 20,000 this year.

For the first time, the 2026 edition will run alongside three co-located events: InstallerSHOW Melbourne, The Fire Safety Event Australia and The Security Event Australia.

How to attend

Registration for the expo is free through the official website. The conference program remains subject to change. Speakers for the 10:00am session on 26 November had not been announced at the time of writing.