Barratt Developments carried out an offsite trail project which has led them to work with Fusion Building Systems on their first live site working together. Fusion started working on the Barratt site at Cane Hill Park development which is located in Coulsdon, Surrey in June. Since then, the designer and manufacturer of light gauge steel superstructures has managed to erect two of the five apartment blocks that have been contracted by the development company.

Barratt Developments is the largest housebuilder in the UK, and their project at Cane Hill Park will see the creation of 86 residential units to be used for private and social housing markets. Fusion Building Systems are working as part of the project in the design and manufacture of individual wall and floor panels that will be used on the four storey apartment buildings. These panels will be installed on the site using a crane and a team of just five people on the site. The external wall s that will be used on the development use Fusion’s patented pre-insulated systems. This construction method allows for a reduction in build times as well as cutting down on the number of different trades that are required on site and also provide a 0.2W/m2K thermal efficiency.

Before the partnership was agreed upon for the construction of the Cane Hill Park Site, Barratt and Fusion spent around 18 months in discussions to explore all of the different ways collaboration could improve construction methods and make offsite construction a more viable option. After this, Fusion successfully completed the building of nine properties, using their manufactured light gauge steel systems at one of Barratt’s developments located in West Sussex. Following the success of this trail, Fusion and Barratt have entered a supply-chain partnership which will be beneficial to both of the companies going forward. As part of this, Fusion has also been contracted to deliver a number of projects that have been valued at more than £3 million.