On Saturday 17 October 2026, iBuild opened the doors of our steel frame kit home factory in Heidelberg West, Melbourne, for our first-ever Factory Open Day. It was a milestone moment for our team. After twelve years of supplying kit homes across Australia, we invited customers and anyone planning their own home to see, up close, exactly how a steel frame kit home is made.
The response exceeded our expectations. Registrations filled so quickly that we added an afternoon session, and both sessions booked out. Guests travelled from across Victoria and interstate, and one came all the way from Augusta in Western Australia, a five-hour drive and a five-hour flight each way, to spend their Saturday on the factory floor with us.
A first look at the day. A full film is on its way.
Three Stations, One Clear Process
After a welcome from Managing Director Jackson Yin, guests split into groups and rotated through three stations, each led by the team members who handle that step for our customers every day.
Design. Guests explored the iBuild kit home range and what can be changed to suit their block and the way they live. Once a design is settled, it becomes the drawings the frame is manufactured from.
Approvals. Guests worked through what council and building approvals involve for a kit home, and how we help customers obtain them. The decisions themselves rest with the council and the building surveyor.
Delivery and Procurement. Guests saw how everything beyond the frame, from the roofing and windows to the kitchen, is sourced on their behalf and arrives flat-packed in up to nine deliveries timed to the progress of their build.
Flat Steel In, House Frame Up
The moment guests talked about most, by a long way, was the live demonstration of producing and assembling a wall frame. They watched the roll-former draw flat steel strip off a coil, with each piece cut to size, manufactured to the frame drawings and ready to assemble.
What surprised guests first was how light each section is. Our team then put out a challenge: would anyone like to try lifting a section of wall frame? Several guests took it on, among them a thirteen-year-old who picked one up unaided. Many took turns pushing on it to see what it would take to shift it, and the comments that followed were all about how sturdy, strong and rigid it felt. A steel wall frame is anything but flimsy.
By the end of the demonstration, the sections had become a standing house frame.
Thank You to Our Partners
The day would not have been the same without the suppliers who backed it. Our sincere thanks go to Bunnings Trade, first and foremost, for the sausage sizzle, the Bunnings Trade bags every guest took home and the prizes in our prize draw; to Stramit and James Hardie for the product samples guests could see and handle; to Powerbay for their heat pump, home battery and EV charging display; and to Express To You Cabinetry, whose stand sat alongside Powerbay’s at the roller door. Kit homes are a team effort well beyond our factory, and we are proud to work alongside partners like these.
Our First, and Certainly Not Our Last
Thank you to every guest who spent a Saturday in a factory with us. Proudly Australian Made, iBuild remains committed to helping Australians design, obtain approvals for, manufacture and deliver the home they have in mind, with technical support through construction. Stronger. Smarter. Faster.
We plan to run the Factory Open Day regularly. Register your interest below, or email info@i-build.com.au with the subject “Factory Open Day”.
