Premier Modular, one of the UK’s leading offsite specialists, has delivered a £2.6m contract to provide a bespoke, sustainable higher education facility at Canada Water in London. Occupied by The Engineering and Design Institute London (TEDI-London), the building is the first phase of an innovative new modular campus for research
~ Euramax releases infographic on benefits modular construction brings to housing market ~ Yorkshire based window and door manufacturer, Euramax, has released an infographic that outlines the UK’s current struggles to create enough affordable homes for first time buyers. Following the UK government’s recent creation of a First Homes scheme,
According to the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills (BIS), 60 per cent of construction projects are not completed on time. Modular builds can provide faster project completion, but what are the risks and benefits of this growing construction method? Here, Nick Cowley, managing director of window and door supplier
Following unprecedented success, the Offsite Construction Awards will be back in 2020 at a new high-profile location, taking place at the UK’s largest offsite technology event in the construction calendar – Offsite Expo. In line with the sector, the Offsite Construction Awards have experienced exponential growth and next year’s event
This year’s Offsite Construction Awards, which celebrate the best in precision building design and delivery, have recognised a project led by ISG and Manchester City Council. The Beaver Road Primary School was named Education Project of the Year 2019 at the ceremony in London. What impressed the judges the most
On the 27 March at the QEII in London, the UK Housing Minister Kit Malthouse will address an audience of construction professionals at the Explore Offsite Housing conference. In February 2018 the Ministry for Housing announced an extra £45 million of funding for community projects that would free up land
A report called ‘Prefabricated Volumetric Building Systems Market Report – UK 2018-2022’ has unveiled an increased demand for portable buildings. Since 2016, where there was an evident dip in market value (possibly due to the EU referendum), the demand has shown a significant improvement with a 6% increase in 2017.
A new research by Heriot-Watt University discovered that the UK has a backlog of 3.9 million homes, its biggest housing shortfall on record; meaning that 340,000 new homes need to be built each year until 2031. Central Bedfordshire alone needs to build 360 affordable homes each year until 2021 under
Fusion Building Systems has completed its works on three residential housing projects in the south of England for Barratt Developments. St Mary’s Place, Felpham, West Sussex; New Quarter, Bordon, Surrey; and Cane Hill Park, Couldson, Surrey, are the first schemes to be delivered by the offsite manufacturer since it successfully
BDC 319 : Aug 2024
Premier Modular, one of the UK’s leading offsite specialists, has delivered a £2.6m contract to provide a bespoke, sustainable higher education facility at Canada Water in London. Occupied by The Engineering and Design Institute London (TEDI-London), the building is the first phase of an innovative new modular campus for research and development. The new facility was designed and built in just nine months in time for the first cohort of students. Premier’s modular solution allowed its rapid and sustainable construction, whilst minimising disruption to the local area. Designed by internationally-renowned architects Hawkins\Brown, the building will be in use for the next seven years to allow British Land to work with TEDI-London to develop a permanent home for its students within the Canada Water masterplan. Minimising impact on the environment was therefore a key part of the project brief. David Walters, Programme Director at British Land, said, “We are using modular construction in a really different way on this campus. It is enabling our tenants to grow with us, only taking the space they need at any one time, with the knowledge that we can respond rapidly to expand the building when they need to add more space. This is achieved with the least possible disruption, and an architectural quality that enhances the surroundings enormously.” “This project successfully demonstrates excellent design, a highly efficient building system, and outstanding collaboration at every stage.” “The partnership between Premier and Hawkins\Brown continues to work exceptionally well and has definitely added value to the project. We can utilise all the benefits of offsite – speed, less impact on the environment, ease of expansion, and less disruption – whilst creating a high-quality education facility which looks fantastic.” “The first cohort of students was able to occupy the building after just nine months, which is an impressive achievement.” Sarah Whittaker-Gilbey, Head of Facilities, Health and Safety at TEDI-London said, “This is a wonderful building. All the feedback has been so positive – from other higher education providers to property developers, staff, students, and the local community. It flows really well and has been designed with disability and inclusion in mind. It encourages interaction and collaboration, and has a strong community feel – exactly what we wanted. We all just love it!” Andrew Tindale, Associate at Hawkins\Brown, said, “This project has been a huge success and we love the finished building. It has really brought a brownfield site to life and has created significant social value and a sense of community. This is a welcoming, safe, and inspiring learning environment that TEDI-London and its students can be genuinely proud of.” “It has been a pleasure working alongside Premier and main contractor Galldris to design and deliver the building and landscape within the budget and time constraints. We believe this working relationship was critical to the project’s success.” “Both Hawkins\Brown and Premier have also been working as industry partners to the Institute, contributing to the curriculum by setting and participating in an engineering challenge.” David Harris, Managing Director of Premier Modular, added, “This use of modular construction brought a number of important environmental benefits to the project. As with all our buildings, this scheme was manufactured by Premier generating zero waste to landfill. When the Institute relocates to its permanent home, the modular structure can then be dismantled for sustainable re-use or recycling.” “The lightweight nature of the Premier steel-framed offsite system also meant the campus building could be sited on the existing concrete base of a disused carpark, avoiding the need for intrusive deep pile foundations.” Other environmental features include low energy LED lighting with PIR sensors, highly efficient heating and cooling using air source heat pumps and mechanical heat recovery ventilation, and Siberian larch cladding which can be re-used or recycled when the building is dismantled. The modules were engineered to create a large double span exhibition, events, and cafeteria space. There are four large ‘makerspaces’ for practical learning, viewing galleries, smaller conference-style meeting and teaching rooms, a full-height glazed entrance, offices and student common room. One corner of the building was extended to three storeys to add visual interest and to create a large roof terrace for social interaction and with views over the Rotherhithe peninsula. Services in the ceiling are exposed to allow students to understand the complexities of the building as part of their learning experience. The Canada Water masterplan is a 53-acre regeneration scheme which is owned in a 50:50 joint venture by leading UK property company, British Land and AustralianSuper, Australia’s biggest profit-to-member pension fund. The masterplan will deliver a new town centre for London including around 3,000 homes, alongside a mix of commercial, retail and community space. TEDI-London is a new engineering higher education enterprise founded by three global universities – Arizona State University, King’s College London, and UNSW Sydney. For further information, visit www.premiermodular.co.uk, call 0800 316 0888 or email info@premiermodular.co.uk. Building Design and Construction Magazine | The Home of Construction & Property News
~ Euramax releases infographic on benefits modular construction brings to housing market ~ Yorkshire based window and door manufacturer, Euramax, has released an infographic that outlines the UK’s current struggles to create enough affordable homes for first time buyers. Following the UK government’s recent creation of a First Homes scheme, many hopeful homeowners still remain uncertain that they will have enough funds to make it onto the property ladder. In order to create enough homes to meet demand, the government has predicted that over 300,000 homes must be built each year until 2025. A lack of housing is not the only factor affecting the UK housing market. Many first-time buyers are unable to get onto the property ladder due to the high cost of an initial deposit. To help first time buyers, the government announced the First Homes scheme in February 2020. The scheme, which has been prioritised for key workers such as those in the Armed Forces, police and teachers, will offer a 30 per cent discount on new homes. However, analysis by homeless charity Shelter has found that 96 per cent of average earners would still not be able to afford a home under this scheme. Modular construction has become a standout method in the construction industry. Builds can be completed quicker and because fewer resources are required in their construction, they are usually cheaper to build and buy. This could offer a more affordable solution for the first time buyers struggling to get onto the property ladder. Euramax originally supplied windows for narrow boats and the static and touring caravan market, before expanding into the modular and offsite construction sectors in 2019. “Though Euramax has not supplied into the modular sector as long as it has caravans, assessing the industry and connecting with professionals has helped us to gain a strong insight into the potential of modular construction”, said managing director, Nick Cowley. “We now supply our products to a number of modular home manufacturers across the country. “Modular constructions can be built up to 50 per cent faster than traditional brick and mortar homes. This quick completion time has recently helped to build emergency hospitals and additional wards, as well as school classrooms. Modular builds can be completed quicker because the build is prefabricated offsite, in a factory-controlled environment. “Unlike traditionally built homes that require extensive site preparation before construction can commence, fabrication of the modules can start right away. Because a modular build is predominantly constructed offsite, there is little disruption from factors such as the weather and quality checks can be carried out beforehand. “It’s clear to see that a lot more must be done to help more first-time buyers enter the property market. That’s why we are dedicated to supporting this industry and recently supplied modular home manufacturer Ilke Homes, with windows and doors for 2,000 of their modular homes,” added Cowley. To learn more about how Euramax’s range of PVCu windows and doors and composite doors can support the modular industry, visit the website.
According to the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills (BIS), 60 per cent of construction projects are not completed on time. Modular builds can provide faster project completion, but what are the risks and benefits of this growing construction method? Here, Nick Cowley, managing director of window and door supplier to the offsite construction industry, Euramax, explains. Reports suggest that modular construction can deliver projects 50 per cent faster than traditional construction while maintaining the same high quality. No surprises then, that the technique is considered the next mega trend in construction. This enhanced completion time of modular construction has become vital for building classrooms, hospital wards and other facilities that requires immediate construction. In 2019, Europe’s tallest modular building, a block of housing apartments in Croydon, South London, was completed in just 35 weeks. Controlled environment Modular construction refers to building projects in which 60 to 90 per cent of a build is constructed offsite. Typically, inside a factory environment. Constructing the build elsewhere means work can start simultaneously alongside preparation of the site. Assembling modules in a factory also means there is greater quality control — unlike a site environment, faults can be resolved before the modules are fixed to the larger construction. This saves remanufacturing time and produces a more accurate build. Manufacturing in a controlled environment also means external factors, such as weather conditions, cannot interrupt the development. As site managers in Britain will attest to, nothing presses pause on a construction project like an unexpected downpour. For time-sensitive projects, minimising this risk is essential. Securing trustworthy relationships While modular construction is praised for its speed, these builds require extreme technical intricacy. Measurements must be exact to ensure modules can fix together seamlessly. A measurement slightly under or over the figures specified could mean the build is flawed, slowing down project completion. Suddenly, this speedy construction option isn’t so quick. Establishing relationships with trusted suppliers and contractors is vital to ensure project predictability. There are many unreliable and dishonest professionals that will exploit construction’s need for quick project delivery, often leaving projects in the lurch — meaning work must be extended, or even abandoned. Working with reliable companies for assistance on modular build projects can help to ensure that deadlines are met — and the same applies to features that are installed in the modules, such as windows and doors. Euramax has 70 years of manufacturing experience of windows and doors for modular construction projects. In fact, Euramax is supplying its windows and doors to modular home manufacturer, Ilke Homes, for the production of 2,000 of its modular homes, demonstrating Euramax’s reliability for the modular build sector. No matter how big or small a project — from hospitals to housing — extended completion times can cause problems. However, modular construction can ensure deadlines are met. With the BIS reporting 60 per cent of construction projects are not completed on time, modular construction methods could be increasingly looked upon to change this. While it’s not possible to predict that a project will run smoothly, choosing reputable suppliers for modular construction projects can reduce delays, ensuring efficient completion and minimise the risk of any construction hiccups. Euramax manufactures high quality windows and doors for modular buildings, here in the UK. More information on the company’s specialist expertise in this area can be found online: www.euramaxuk.com/offsite-construction.
Following unprecedented success, the Offsite Construction Awards will be back in 2020 at a new high-profile location, taking place at the UK’s largest offsite technology event in the construction calendar – Offsite Expo. In line with the sector, the Offsite Construction Awards have experienced exponential growth and next year’s event is set to be the most prominent yet, with the Awards taking centre stage at Offsite Expo on 22 September 2020 at the Ricoh Arena, Coventry. In 2020 Offsite Expo will attract over 5,000 dedicated construction professionals across the two-day exhibition. The Awards will be hosted next year alongside the Offsite Summit, which will attract 500 industry leaders and innovators. This move will give the team behind the Awards room to expand the event, after the high demand for tickets last year saw many people losing out on attending the big night. The 2020 Awards will be keeping the traditions of previous years, featuring an evening drinks reception with plenty of networking opportunities. However, it is not only the venue that is changing, two new categories have been announced. The Offsite Construction Awards are expanding to reflect the wider adoption of innovative technology. These new categories include Building Performance Pioneer Award, which focuses on the importance of energy efficiency post occupation, together with International Offsite Project of the Year Award – opening the 2020 Offsite Awards to international entries! The deadline for submissions is 15 May 2020 with announcement of the finalists being announced on 22 September 2020. Entries into the 2019 Offsite Construction Awards were phenomenal and the profile and coverage gained by all the finalists and winners has helped to propel the sector to another level. This event is the ideal opportunity for construction professionals to maximise industry exposure by demonstrating what separates them from their competitors. So, if you are proud of your exceptional team, project development or product innovation, there are just five questions to answer to grasp the opportunity to take centre stage at the 2020 Offsite Construction Awards. Being shortlisted for the Awards will earn recognition within the offsite community and the wider construction industry – opening doors to securing new business development opportunities. Many of the sponsorship packages have already been snapped up by savvy companies wanting to take advantage of the opportunity to promote their company and maximise industry exposure. The headline sponsors for next year’s event include EOS, Hadley Group, NHBC and BLP insurance – with only one package remaining for a headline position.
This year’s Offsite Construction Awards, which celebrate the best in precision building design and delivery, have recognised a project led by ISG and Manchester City Council. The Beaver Road Primary School was named Education Project of the Year 2019 at the ceremony in London. What impressed the judges the most was ISG and Premier Modular’s integrated team approach to the project, which saw Beaver Road achieve RIBA Stage 5 in 19 weeks from a standing start and beat 32 other projects to win the highly-sought-after award. Volumetric, offsie manufacturing was used for the £7.2 million Beaver Road scheme to ensure the school could open ahead of the 2018/2019 academic year. This application saved at least 10 weeks against a traditional build programme. Ahead of the academic year in 2018, the ISG and Premier Modular team completed six projects for the council. This wider programme of schools was also recognised at the event, coming highly commended in the BIM/Digital Construction Award category. All six projects were to BIM Level 2, including a fully integrated asset information model. “Early engagement of the right supply chain and standard repeatable designs – informed by lessons learned from two earlier modular school schemes – allowed us to ensure design for manufacture from the outset,” said Neil Walker, framework director at ISG. “The speed of the wider schools programme, including the project at Beaver Road, was extraordinary. Together the project team delivered six schools, with a construction value of circa £31 million in just 57 weeks from a standing start.”
On the 27 March at the QEII in London, the UK Housing Minister Kit Malthouse will address an audience of construction professionals at the Explore Offsite Housing conference. In February 2018 the Ministry for Housing announced an extra £45 million of funding for community projects that would free up land for local councils to build 7,280 homes. It has been 16 months since the government’s ‘offsite presumption’ announcement and key industry players are still unsure how this will play out and when clarity will arrive – many are optimistic that the Explore Offsite Housing event will provide at least some of the answers. Kit Malthouse’s short time in office has not been without controversy. He recently defended the Better Building Beautiful Commission and called on architects to work with him to resist bland, developer-led housing. He said the point of the government commission has been missed by British architects, who have criticised it for attempting to reignite the divide between proponents of traditional and modern architecture. The theme of traditional versus modern will continue at this one-day conference but this time the debate will move away from architecture to focus on contemporary delivery methods. Kit Malthouse was recently quoted as saying: “If I’m going to build 300,000 houses, I need local communities to accept them. And that means they need to like what’s being built. We’re putting 45 million quid into the house building industry across the piece. We’re not short of money to get this out of the door. But it’s perfectly possible to produce stuff that looks fantastic that satisfies the purists of the architectural profession and local communities at the same time.” Kit Malthouse then turned his attention to housing developers: “I need the architectural profession to join with me to cajole, propel, and push the developers to allow beauty into their work.” Through exemplary case studies, Explore Offsite Housing will provide evidence that offsite technology can rapidly deliver exceptional and aesthetically appealing residential projects at scale. The conference and exhibition will provide an opportunity for housing developers and architects to hear direct from the Housing Minister. All eyes will be on Kit Malthouse as he discusses the government’s plans for investment into offsite technologies and proposals for future potential collaboration and funding. Explore Offsite Housing will be attended by over 250 delegates from architects, engineers and housing developers to construction clients and building product manufacturers – all interested to be the first to hear new industry announcements. Offsite solutions provide the technological capabilities to allow the government to build the large levels of housing that are needed efficiently, with low costs and unbeatable quality consistency. As the construction world races to resolve the housing crisis, offsite professionals are keen to learn about new government-funded opportunities that are long overdue. To view the high-profile speaker line-up – which includes Mark Farmer – and to book your place go to: www.exploreoffsite.co.uk
A report called ‘Prefabricated Volumetric Building Systems Market Report – UK 2018-2022’ has unveiled an increased demand for portable buildings. Since 2016, where there was an evident dip in market value (possibly due to the EU referendum), the demand has shown a significant improvement with a 6% increase in 2017. This market value includes factory made, fully assembled, three-dimensional modules. Due to an increased demand for onsite accommodation on major infrastructure projects, such as The Thameslink Railway Construction Programme, volumetric construction has grown. It is also partly down to a spike in demand in other sectors such as portable offices and the education sector seeing request for flexibility and affordability. Temporary Accommodation The biggest market for portable buildings seems to be temporary accommodation on industrial sites and construction, including event hire. Education and healthcare are also key areas of use. The uses for these structures vary, with operating theatres and wards being the largest temporary application in the healthcare sector. In the education sector, modular structures are widely used as semi-permanent portable buildings for school classrooms, and in many cases, these buildings end up being permanent solutions. Major, permanent builds include blocks for sixth forms, specialist subject blocks, whole nurseries and extra sports facilitates for storage and more. House-building and Construction Many established construction and house-building companies have begun to adapt their semi-permanent work structures into off-site housing in recent years. With many big ‘players’ in the industry getting on board, it’s not hard to see the emerging trend. Well known names such as Berkeley Homes and Barratt homes, to name just two, are new market entrants amongst others. Over the next few years there are numerous factors that are likely to underpin steady growth in this sector. These include an increase in the number of public sector procurement frameworks – several which are specific to off-site construction, as well as the increased use of BIM (Building Information Modelling). More importantly there is now a strong likelihood of growth in the use of off-site construction methods and portable buildings to help meet the chronic housing shortage. It may be a viable solution in dealing with the lack of traditional construction skills within the industry. Off-site Manufacturing Techniques In the Housing White Paper of 2017, the government supported the use of off-site manufacturing techniques. This meant they backed the main benefits of high-quality, reliability, productivity, energy efficiency and required fewer people on site. The £2 billion Accelerated Construction Programme and the £3 billion Home Building Fund both supported this opinion. This includes those using modular construction and portable buildings. A higher demand for site accommodation on major infrastructure projects is most likely to be sustained through 2022 and beyond. Due to the implementation of the government’s Roads Investment Strategy and the continuation of Smart Motorways amongst other new developments, the need for portable buildings to be used as offices is forecast to grow at a rate of 3-5% per year. It wouldn’t be surprising that this growth is likely to continue with further innovations and plans. Excel Modular Buildings has more than 40 years of experience in the supply of Modular Buildings, Portable Cabins, Anti-vandal Units and Containers.
A new research by Heriot-Watt University discovered that the UK has a backlog of 3.9 million homes, its biggest housing shortfall on record; meaning that 340,000 new homes need to be built each year until 2031. Central Bedfordshire alone needs to build 360 affordable homes each year until 2021 under the Strategic Housing Market Assessment. To make a start Central Bedfordshire College and a private developer have chosen ZEDPods, ready-made, quality starter-homes for a new development of 23 homes on college land. The one and two-bedroom houses, a break-through development in low cost, low carbon and high-quality homes, are fabricated off site. Their modular construction allows them to be rapidly erected on pieces of land not generally considered suitable for housing. With a variety of design options covering single or multi-occupancy sites, ZEDPod homes can be tailored for a range of accommodation needs, offering a viable, affordable solution to the keyworker housing crisis. “We are delighted that Central Bedfordshire College is able to support the local area needs and ZEDPods with the creation of environmentally friendly housing solutions. We look forward to working with ZEDPods to develop new courses teaching on modern forms of construction utilising the most cutting edge, eco-friendly construction techniques to our learners and to seeing the benefits that this innovation will have on our community,” said Ali Hadawi, Principal of Central Bedfordshire College. The ZEDPods are designed and developed by RIBA award-winning architect Bill Dunster, who will take advantage of existing city centre car park locations and hard standings across the UK. The homes are built to higher standards than conventional houses, being super insulated, triple glazed, with heat recovery ventilation, low carbon technology and lots of daylight. “As the pods are constructed from quality fireproof, durable and robust materials, they are designed to last as long as a traditionally built homes, The pods’ solar roofs generate more energy than the houses consume, so they will also have the lowest possible running costs,” explained Bill Dunster. ZEDPod owners will have their own balcony and front door, a kitchen and dining table, a bathroom, a lounge with stairs leading to a mezzanine floor bedspace, with home office desk, double bed, wardrobe and storage. ZEDPods will be sold with a ‘Q Assure’ mortgageable warranty.
Fusion Building Systems has completed its works on three residential housing projects in the south of England for Barratt Developments. St Mary’s Place, Felpham, West Sussex; New Quarter, Bordon, Surrey; and Cane Hill Park, Couldson, Surrey, are the first schemes to be delivered by the offsite manufacturer since it successfully completed a trial project for Barratt in Angmering, Southampton in 2017. Across the three sites, working on almost 200 units, Fusion adapted existing Barratt house types as well as developing bespoke multi-storey designs, to make them suitable for use with its light gauge steel panelised system. The work was completed on each site over the past 12 months, but was the result of almost three years of intense integration and education at all levels across both companies, exploring how offsite systems could be used as a viable alternative to traditional methods of construction. “Our system was proven to work on a small number of houses for Barratt’s trial 18 months ago, so it’s exciting now for us to see how we can scale up to deliver a much larger number of units,” said Robert Clark, Fusion Head of Business Development. The light gauge steel superstructures for each development were designed, engineered and manufactured at Fusion’s factory in Northampton – with its patented, pre-insulated panels being transported to site, ready for immediate installation. The three sites were very different in their requirements however, from two, three and four-bedroom standard house types, to non-standard designs with challenging ground conditions and four-storey apartment buildings. Robert continued: “Each site put our design and engineering teams to the test with the successful delivery of each, from concept through to installation on site, reliant on effective collaboration and communication throughout the supply chain. The early phases on site once again presented a learning curve for each company, but as each development progressed, all parties worked well together and were ultimately convinced offsite was the future for volume housebuilding.” Oliver Novakovic, Technical and Innovation Director, Barratt Developments, added: “Fusion has now successfully delivered full scale pilots on three sites with our Southampton and Southern Counties divisions. We have seen a real improvement in speed as predicted and are now continuing to work closely with the Fusion team to roll this technology out further. We believe the work we have done over the last two years on things like standard details and the construction approach really supports the application of the Fusion system into our private housing market.” The new homes at each development are now being marketed to private and social housing customers. For further information visit www.fusionbuild.com or www.barratthomes.co.uk
