Reduction of both labour and material costs is a primary objective in the building industry. Designers and engineers have developed cost-effective methods for re-cycling components, so re-use of materials after demolition is simplified. Procedures have proved both inexpensive and sustainable, and are under continuous development. Mass production of parts and modular assembly have both contributed to these improvements.

The Sarchex modular system is economic, and can be rapidly assembled and demounted. This offers the structural engineer a means of fast assembly and installation, ease of maintenance, and cheap demolition and sustainability. Any suitable material may be used to make the hexagonal modules. Steel has proved effective in combination with a concrete filler. The Sarchex system may thus be used to make structural components such as slabs, walls, and columns.

Gaps in the walls of the modules allow the fluid filler to pass between contiguous elements, adding strength and cohesion after the filler has set. Slabs or walls can be built using planar assembly. Barrel vaults and domes can also be formed by using tie-bars or setters to give curvature to the formwork. Individual elements may be fixed together using rivets, screws and bolts, or threaded pipe and nuts. Elements may be assembled laterally to produce a thin or flat structure, or stacked base to top to produce a column.

The system may be used in a variety of civil engineering applications using variations of assembly, including:

• Floors (elements filled with reinforced concrete)
• Roofs
• Temporary support structures for roofs and floors
• Walls
• Concrete pavement for aircraft runways
• Tunnels

The modular system offers cheap and efficient assembly of structures, and restricts propagation of cracks in components. This helps to retain structural integrity by limiting deterioration. Maintenance costs may thus be reduced in sectors where they are normally high, particularly highways.