Renovation Without Destruction

Construction hasn't changed its fundamentals in a century. Buildings still get built the way they always have — slow, wasteful, and permanent in all the wrong ways. That's about to change.

Step into The GEAR by Kajima for an afternoon of firsts — experience new technology, new thinking, and one question the industry rarely asks out loud: what does it really take for hardware to survive the leap from prototype to market?

We've brought together the people who've lived this question from every angle: The GEAR by Kajima, SMU Institute of Innovation and Entrepreneurship, and Plug and Play — to talk candidly about commercialising hardware, what makes it investible, and what about the construction industry that makes it extremely challenging for hardware startups.

And at the close, we're unveiling something we've been building toward for a long time — a live look at a system we believe changes how interiors get built. You'll see it before we tell you what it is.

Agenda: 12:45 – 12:50 PM — Arrival & Welcome 12:50 – 1:10 PM — Fireside Chat The GEAR by Kajima × SMU IIE × Plug and Play Hardware is Hard: The Realities of Commercialising Hardware in the built-environment 1:10 – 1:35 PM — Keynote Discussion Investibility — The Hardware Challenge, Adoption & the Circular Marketplace 1:35 – 2:00 PM — Live Unveiling The launch of a new system — the result of everything discussed in the room up to this point. 2:00 – 2:15 PM — Q&A, Closing & Networking

Who should be in the room Investors & VCs — see what an investible hardware category looks like when the capital-intensity problem has been designed out from the start. Developers — A first look at construction methodologies that changes the cost and speed of fit-outs and re-fits. Architects & Interior Designers — a new degree of design freedom, without re-specifying structure every time a space needs to change. Builders & Contractors — what fewer trades, faster install, and less site dependency could mean for how you run a project.