Building News is an information portal for all professional building specifiers. Here you can find all of the latest construction news from around the UK and the rest of the world.

Park it… with Creagh

Creagh, one of the UK’s largest producers of concrete products for a range of market sectors are changing the way people think about concrete, bringing new levels of efficiency and performance to their products. This can be seen in one of their latest projects, Circle Square. MMC Editor Joe Bradbury discusses:

 

Work is well underway on a new multi-storey car park and hotel at Circle Square in Manchester city centre.

Carparks: a brief introduction

Originally, architecture was never delivered with car parking in mind. However, as cars became accessible for everybody, the popularity of cars rose exponentially. This has dominated design ever since, with the built environment having to morph and evolve around an infrastructure of roads, motorways, garages, car parks and multi storey’s.

Over the years, attitudes towards car parks (especially multi storey) have been in a constant state of flux. People often debate the heritage value of the post-war multi-storey car park, typically constructed out of concrete in a brutalist style. Some believe that these car parks are a blot on our horizons, whilst others campaign to get them listed status in order to protect their architectural value. The Tricorn in Portsmouth is one such example of where demolishment causes controversy, due not only to its aesthetics but also its cultural value; it famously featured in the 1971 film ‘Get Carter.’

Wider adoption of modern methods of construction, such as offsite, are now serving to revolutionise the humble car park even further, making it fit for modern demand.

 

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Why offsite?

Offsite construction provides specifiers with programme certainty and quality though simplification of site operations and reduced weather dependencies due to the controlled factory-based assembly process. Buildings delivered through offsite construction offer enhanced specification standards and build quality which reduces occupancy costs related to energy use, defects and repairs. There is significant evidence that suggests that the use of offsite construction has been successful when applied to meet the needs of significant developments at scale with consequential opportunities for standardisation of design details – particularly to meet the need of government led programmes.

‘The Waste and Resources Action Programme’ posit that offsite construction practices generate up to 90% less waste than more traditional building methods. This is because a factory is a much more controlled environment than a traditional building site – throwing far fewer variables into the mix.

Offsite and modular construction is much less energy intensive than traditional building methods. The carbon footprint left by the many construction vehicles and machinery on the site of a traditional construction project alone is considerably larger than that of modular construction. Fewer vehicles involved and less time spent on site results in fewer emissions and a vastly reduced carbon footprint as an industry.

About Circle Square

Russells Construction has been appointed by developer Bruntwood as main contractor for the delivery of the project. Creagh have been enlisted to manufacture, supply & fit stair cores, hollowcore flooring and bespoke inset brick panels.

The first ten floors of the 16 storey hybrid building, will encompass a 1,014 space car park, with a 158 bed hotel located on top of the car park.

The aerial images show the size of the site, with the concrete cores, supplied by Creagh and steelwork structure showing the scale of the large development underway.

Feilden Clegg Bradley Studios served as concept architect for the car park and hotel, with the design reflecting the city’s industrial past. Inspired by the nearby 19th century warehouses, the building will be constructed from a pre-cast concrete panel system, utilising inset bricks (supplied by Creagh) which draw on Manchester’s rich links to the grand infrastructure of the Victorian era.

Located on the former BBC site on Oxford Road, Circle Square is a joint venture between Bruntwood SciTech and Select Property Group that will see the creation of a pioneering new urban destination that will boast over 1700 new homes, 1.2 million sq. ft. of workspace and over 100,000 sq. ft. of retail and leisure space. Circle Square will also feature the first and largest new city park for generations, providing much needed green space in the city.

In summary

Offsite offers fast and affordable solution to meet modern demand, and with the UK Environment Agency and other government bodies putting increasing pressure on construction companies to reduce pollution and conform to environmental regulations, it is a shift in practice that happens regardless of anybody’s stance on the subject. Companies such as Creagh are at the forefront of this great change.

www.creaghconcrete.co.uk

 

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Britain seeing huge growth in number of high-rise buildings

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Driven by a growing population and intensifying urbanisation, the construction of high-rise buildings has increased considerably in recent years – more high-rise buildings are now being constructed than at any other time. Joe Bradbury of buildingspecifier.com investigates:

 

Across the UK as a whole, there are currently over 270 existing high-rise buildings and structures, of which around 70% are in London. The UK has just 17 high-rise buildings over 150m (492ft.) in height and just one building – The Shard in London – over 300m.

Definitions of high-rise buildings vary, but an interesting report by AMA Research looks at UK regional and London developments of 15-20 storeys and above. Unlike other international cities, London is considered ‘low-rise’ for a global city and financial capital of the world; with the pace of high-rise development way behind other global cities. However, in recent years, there has been an increase in the number of high-rise buildings proposed and approved for construction in the UK. The UK development pipeline currently stands at around 500 buildings, of which over 85% are planned in London, while the rest are clustered in key cities such as Birmingham, Liverpool, Manchester and Salford.

In terms of end-use sector, around 70% of high-rise buildings currently under construction or under consideration across the UK are primarily residential, but with an element of mixed-use, e.g. retail, community or leisure.

In London, the high-rise market is being driven by the buoyant private housing sector, especially at the top-end of the market, and resurgence in demand for commercial property. The concept of high rise living has changed and the majority of high-rise residential tower blocks in UK cities are now being developed as luxury accommodation, targeting a very different demographic and being developed with a mixed-use element incorporating leisure facilities, concierge services, restaurants and retail.

Key factors affecting the development of high-rise buildings include cost, space efficiency, wind & seismic considerations, structural safety, risk challenges both on site and in completed buildings, speed of elevators, new building materials to potentially replace steel and concrete and damping systems. In addition, significant technical and logistical factors include pumping and placing concrete at extreme heights, and craning and lifting items to extreme heights.

Speaking with buildingspecifier.com, Hayley Thornley, Research Manager at AMA Research said

“Going forward, the high-rise construction market is set to continue to grow, with the ever-increasing demand for housing. However, there are concerns about too many projects aimed at the luxury end of the market, which is not matched with housing demand. In addition, the uncertainties surrounding the EU referendum may influence some high-rise schemes, with many projects in the pipeline forecast to exceed stated completion dates.”

The proportion of mixed-use schemes in the high-rise buildings pipeline is set to grow, with around 18% of developments either under construction or proposed with a mixed-use function. In the office market, rising take-up, low availability of grade-A space and increasing rents in cities such as Manchester, Bristol, Birmingham, Leeds and Edinburgh, is helping to boost output in the commercial office sector and has led to more speculative building.

Sustained growth in the private rented sector (PRS) is also driving the development of high-rise housing, with increasing financial backing from both domestic and foreign institutional investors. Student accommodation also forms a small, but significant proportion of high-rise building development with a number of schemes currently in planning.

 

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Given the fact that between now and 2026 the UK needs to build an additional 110,000 homes per annum on top of those currently projected in order to keep pace with our growing and ageing population, high rise could also play a pivotal role in ending the housing crisis going forward. Housebuilding is a particularly labour intensive industry and although new technologies and increased off-site production are being implemented to reduce costs and increase productivity, the supply of labour is still one of the binding constrictions on output.

Existing evidence suggests that the relationship between labour and number of houses that can be built is close to being linear. Therefore, in order to increase the number of homes being built the labour force employed in housebuilding needs to increase by the same share.

Current annual construction levels are typically less than half of the estimated 250,000 new homes this country needs built every year through to at least the 2030s. With only 63% of projects delivered on time and only 49% delivered to budget, it’s clear to see that traditional building practices, whilst still integral, are falling short of meeting major challenges on their own.

There is an urgent need for a mass volume of houses to be constructed in a limited time scale and whether the state takes on housebuilding, or if it is left to private house builders, the benefits of offsite construction could be crucial to meeting targets that have repeatedly been missed. Offsite construction provides housebuilders with programme certainty and quality though simplification of site operations and reduced weather dependencies due to the controlled factory-based assembly process. Houses delivered through offsite construction offer enhanced specification standards and build quality which reduces occupancy costs related to energy use, defects and repairs. There is significant evidence that suggests that the use of offsite construction has been successful when applied to meet the needs of significant housing developments at scale with consequential opportunities for standardisation of design details – particularly to meet the need of government led programmes.

To deliver the homes of tomorrow we need to attract new talent and diversify the way we build. What role do you think high rise will play in this? Let us know in the comments below!

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SYSTEMGLAS® Ligna provides assured fire safety for prestigious bilingual school

A project to create a high quality meeting room and classroom within the new Upper School of the prestigious École Jeannine Manuel School in London has been completed using the complete fire resistant, timber frame glazing system Promat SYSTEMGLAS® Ligna.

The school, which is a co-educational, French bilingual, international school for 3-18 year olds, was established in 2015. Its new Upper School occupies a Georgian building facing onto Russell Square so any development work within the school has to carefully balance the preservation of period architecture with the provision of high quality facilities.

The latest project has created a meeting room and split an existing room in order to create a corridor and new classroom. By utilising the SYSTEMGLAS® Ligna butt-jointed glazed partitioning system, in combination with timber doorsets, the right aesthetic and performance balance could be achieved, in combination with assured EI30 fire protection and 39db acoustic insulation to help reduce unwanted noise disturbance.

Highly experienced main contractor ME Construction was tasked with sourcing a solution. Founded in 2007, ME Construction is a leading specialist in refurbishment and selected new build projects, who endorse a ‘One Team, One Focus’ by working collaboratively with clients, consultants and the supply chain.

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It was important for the client that 30 minutes fire safety could be assured with no ambiguity, and that the design of the glazed partitions complemented the existing décor. This included the creation of a glazed screen with an integral door spanning 3.8m. As a specialist in projects for the education sector, ME Construction was ideally positioned to source the right solution.

In conjunction with Promat SYSTEMGLAS® approved installer PGS Glass, a partition and doorset was developed using the SYSTEMGLAS® Ligna fire resistant glazing system. Designed by Promat UK, a global leader in passive fire protection products, Ligna is one of a family of products which have been tested (CERTIFIRE CF5452) to provide integrity and insulation (EI) fire protection from 30 minutes up to 60 minutes (EI30 to EI60).

SYSTEMGLAS® Ligna’s exact configuration of fire rated glass and components, including beading and setting blocks is manufactured in house and is provided to installers who are fully supported by Promat UK throughout the installation stage. This ensures the timber frame is created to the correct specification and delivers the finished glazing’s promised fire protection level.

With Promat UK being in a unique position to offer fully transparent traceability on all the products used to create the partitions, as well as supporting PGS Glass throughout installation, it is able to provide a 360° ‘Wheel of Assurance’ to clients. This includes a certificate of conformity for installation, confirming that the glazing system has been installed correctly with no weaknesses in its ability to provide passive fire protection for the required timeframe.

For Kent-based PGS Glass, the École Jeannine Manuel School office development was the ideal project to utilise its fire rated glass experience and expertise to add value to a client project. The company works with clients across the South East to provide glass and glazing for all kinds of commercial and domestic projects, with one its core strengths being fire protection.

Paul Groves, Contracts Manager at PGS Glass said: “We’re really pleased with the result that SYSTEMGLAS® Ligna has enabled us to achieve at the École Jeannine Manuel School. Working closely with ME Construction and Promat’s technical team from the outset, we have been able to create modern offices with maximum light transmission, whilst offering a fire protection assurance that provides total peace of mind for the client.”

The timber frame Ligna is one of four systems within the Promat SYSTEMGLAS® range which are backed with the 360° Wheel of Assurance for fire protection. SYSTEMGLAS® Ferro enables the creation of partitioning using a steel frame, whilst Advenerat and Celare utilise the PROMATECT® H fire resistant material to create the framing, which can be painted, overclad or concealed within surrounding walls, floors and ceilings to provide a virtually ‘frameless’ effect.

Part of international product manufacturing group the Etex Group, Promat UK has been producing fire, thermal and acoustic protection solutions for more than 30 years. In addition to its range of fire resistant glass, the company manufactures market leading high performance insulation solutions which are used in numerous hi-tech, engineering and industrial sectors.

 

Find out more at www.promat-glass.co.uk

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RINNAI AIMS FOR DOUBLE GROWTH IN LESS THAN 10 YEARS

Rinnai, a UK leader in the manufacture and supply of heating & continuous flow hot water delivery systems and units for residential and commercial sites, has announced that it is planning on doubling its size within 10 years.

The announcement, made by Managing Director Tony Gittings at a major event held at Skinners Hall in the City of London before a large audience of contractors, installers, consultants, estates managers and end-user organisation, detailed the company’s plans in a series of new product developments, marketing initiatives and service launches.

In the 2019 the company has completed the following:

  • Launch of service division offering total offering customers Service Plans for peace of mind in knowing that, in the unlikely event of a problem, they have an instant answer to the problem. All inspections and all remedial works are carried out by Gas Safe registered engineers. It is a legal requirement for the obvious safety reasons that all works carried out to a gas fired appliance or system must be done by a fully qualified and registered gas engineer.
  • Launch of the new N series of hot water heating units – The Rinnai SENSEI water heater range offers a new, more compact and enhanced combustion design that allows for easier installation and enhanced operational performance and importantly increased levels of serviceability. All the components within the Sensei are designed and manufactured by Rinnai. This ensures maximum quality and reliability from the industry leader in commercial continuous flow water.
  • Launch of the A series of domestic hot water heating units
  • Launch of the Zen and Zen Plus home hot water & heating system which marries established and proven manufacture durability with new technologies to offer great energy efficiencies, user control and, importantly, unparalleled level of comfort. The Rinnai Zen and Zen Plus system will increase comfort and reduce energy usage whilst also providing a highly economically solution for today’s changing marketplace.
  • Launch of the Trust Partnership with the formation of an installer network specifically for its domestic product range, the Zen & Zen Plus. The installer domestic partnership network includes all bona fide, Gas Safe registered, installers of residential heating and hot water units and systems. The launch is complementary to the recent introduction of the Rinnai Zen and Zen Plus domestic heating hot water system.

The Rinnai range of hot water heating products are manufactured to the highest possible quality standards which ensures a long working life. Our reliability and commitment to customer service excellence is the industry standard.

Rinnai is the UK leader in ErP ‘A’ rated continuous flow hot water heating units. The company makes and sells over 12 million gas appliances every year, which are distributed globally to all parts of the world and are all
ISO 9001 and ISO 1400I certified (International standard for environmental management systems).

 

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Backed with extensive warranties and fully qualified service teams, Rinnai is the first choice for continuous flow hot water, providing the most energy and economically efficient solution by using individual or multiple manifolded appliances.

“Rinnai employ innovative manufacturing and testing techniques to deliver unparalleled levels of safety, comfort and efficiency. With the Rinnai Continuous Flow Hot Water System, you will never run out of hot water,” adds Chris Goggin for the company.

 

FOR MORE INFORMATION VISIT WWW.RINNAIUK.COM

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New lease of life for medical centre with Eurobrick

The Village Green Medical Centre in Great Denham was built in 1994 using a modular building system for the speed of construction benefits. Planning authorities agreed to the project on the condition that the building would eventually be over clad with a finish that would blend in with the surrounding residential area.

Today the building stands proud with a mixed real brick and timber effect finish. Eurobrick’s P-Clad system was used for the ground floor by Industrial Contracting Services (ICS), who installed circa 315m² of the system with Rustic Inferno Multi brick slips and corners and a Smooth Brown brick slip plinth detail.

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The surgery had to remain open during the project and the contract was completed in 6 weeks using an innovative mixture of access solutions as well as out of hours working to minimise disruption to patients.

Paul Fereday of ICS commented,

“The overall finish has given this modular building a new lease of life with an appearance that blends in well with the surrounding new residential
development. Towards the end of the project many of the people visiting the medical centre commented on how much the appearance had improved.”

For more information on Eurobrick please visit www.eurobrick.co.uk.

 

 

 

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PAS with Flying Colours

A ‘whole door system’ which combines secure locking with failsafe emergency evacuation features has been introduced by GEZE UK to meet the rigorous PAS 24 standard.

The Slimdrive SL NT PAS 24 System achieves outstanding security – one of the best on the market, whilst still meeting ever-greater demands of building requirements.

The system enables 24-hour access control and has been designed and tested for continuous use. With GEZE’s unique, robust locking system that is hidden from view – the Slimdrive SL NT PAS 24 System makes it even harder for opportunist burglars to identify points of access.

GEZE’s proven Slimdrive SL NT technology, together with the enhanced security testing required to achieve PAS 24 accreditation, adds up to the perfect entrance system with no compromises – security, accessibility, access control and great aesthetics.

 

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Under PAS 24 a series of tests are performed including manual attack, in which the test engineer uses a range of tools anywhere on the door over a 15-minute period, impact testing of both ‘soft body’ and ‘hard body’ objects, and force testing in which loads are applied for up to 5 minutes. The door must withstand all of the tests to pass and achieve PAS 24 certification.

These security enhancements are fast becoming key features for buildings where security with escape routes are a high priority: such as hospitals, airports, train stations and banks.

The system uses GEZE’s proven Slimdrive SL NT automatic sliding operator. At just seven centimetres it is the slimmest on the market enabling it to be almost invisibly integrated into the façade. It can move leaf weights up to 125kg and is virtually silent in operation.

GEZE UK worked with Jack Aluminium Systems, one of the UK’s leading aluminium glazing systems companies, to develop the new system for automatic sliding doors.

The PAS (Product Assessment Specification) 24 test standard was introduced by the British Standard Institute (BSI) in collaboration with industry stakeholders and Secured By Design (SBD). A 2016 revision incorporated additional doorset and window types including non-domestic ranges and changes to some test methods and criteria.

Said Kaz Spiewakowski, managing director of GEZE UK: “This is a landmark system in the fight against crime. It incorporates enhanced security features without compromising on the functionality and aesthetic benefits for which our products have become known.”

Jeff Pearson, sales director of Jack Aluminium Systems added: “It has been a honour to work with GEZE UK to develop this system which combines safety and security in line with the PAS 24 standard. It will no doubt prove to be of real practical benefit within a variety of publically accessed buildings bringing with it peace of mind to those who live and work in the places where it is installed.“

 

A new brochure has been produced to explain the system in detail. This is available by calling the marketing team on 01543 443015.

For more information about GEZE UK’s comprehensive range of automatic and manual door closers call 01543 443000 or visit www.geze.co.uk

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RINNAI CPD ON CONTINUOUS FLOW HOT WATER DELIVERY ON DEMAND NOW FULLY APPROVED BY CIBSE

Rinnai’s CPD courses on continuous flow hot water delivery units and systems have now been fully approved by the Chartered Institute of Building Service Engineers (CIBSE).

 

Four CPDs have been approved -:

  • Excellence in Design of Continuous Flow Hot Water Delivery
  • Continuous Flow Hot Water Appreciation
  • The Regulatory Horizon for Hot Water Delivery
  • ACOP L8

 

“Demand for all of our training courses and programmes have risen steeply as the industry increasingly has to focus on energy, environment and finance efficiency in hot water delivery within a commercial context, “says Rinnai’s Chris Goggin.

 

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CPD courses have been designed for M&E consultants and specifiers, design and build engineers and, facilities managers. These courses had already attracted praise from CIBSE. For example, it says of the ‘CONTINUOUS FLOW WATER HEATING SYSTEM SIZING AND DESIGN’ course in an appraisal: “The course delivers what it outlines and is well constructed.”

 

Rinnai has developed and manufactures the only complete and most comprehensive range of highly efficient ErP labelled A-rated continuous flow water heaters on the market, from the smallest domestic model to industrial units.

 

“Rinnai understands that time means money which is why we are happy to adopt an ‘any time, any place, anywhere’ approach to CPD delivery and training,” adds Mr Goggin.

FOR MORE INFORMATION VISIT WWW.RINNAIUK.COM

 

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CLASSIC STYLE MEETS MODERN INNOVATION WITH KINGSPAN TEK HOME

A new build home in Kingsclere has embraced a ‘best of both worlds’ philosophy by combining traditional aesthetics with the exceptional fabric performance provided by the Kingspan TEK Building System.

The hillside site in Hampshire was previously home to an inter-war style house, which the owners originally planned to extend and renovate. After the initial feasibility study, carried out by Witcher Crawford Architects, the homeowners weighed the benefits of improved thermal performance, amongst other considerations, and decided to demolish the property and rebuild instead. Keen to retain the positive attributes of the original building, Witcher Crawford developed a design that was in keeping with the style and palette of materials typical to Kingsclere. The result is a stunning Arts and Crafts home that is traditional in appearance and complementary to its setting. Constructed with innovative Structural Insulated Panels (SIPs) from the Kingspan TEK Building System, the house enjoys excellent thermal performance, making it both comfortable and efficient.

Kingspan TEK Building System panels comprise a highly insulated core sandwiched between two layers of Oriented Strand Board type 3 (OSB/3) and can deliver U-values as low as 0.17 W/m2K without the need for additional insulated liners, providing exceptional out-of-the-box fabric performance for this new home. The wall and roof panels were designed and factory-cut to the project’s unique specifications by Kingspan TEK Delivery Partners, Bentley Projects.

 

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Keen advocates of the Kingspan TEK Building System, Witcher Crawford Architects and sister company Build Construction Management have been working closely with Bentley Projects to hone their construction detailing.

David Bentley, of Bentley Projects, commented:

“This is a substantial house with a traditional appearance. The Kingspan TEK Building System provided speed and cost-effectiveness, whilst giving the clients a highly efficient and super air-tight structure and maintaining the look and feel of an arts-and-crafts style house. The exterior incorporates handmade bricks, brick slips, render and hanging tiles and carved stone features. Inside, the character is maintained with vaulted or skeiling ceilings in the roof space and spacious living and reception rooms. Despite the period character, this is a thoroughly modern building; highly insulated with state-of-the-art heating and MVHR systems.”

The offsite construction method provided by the Kingspan TEK Building System meant the entire SIP structure, including the house, garage and pool-house, was erected in just 10 weeks. The Kingspan TEK Building System also allowed excellent flexibility in the design of this bespoke home. Despite being new, the building was designed to look as though it has been part of the landscape for the last 100 years.

Some of the key features established through the Kingspan TEK Building System include increased floor to ceiling heights; feature walls with recesses and alcoves; and faux external chimneys formed in SIPs and clad with brick slips to match the brickwork cladding to the rest of the building. In addition, the use of SIPs for the roof construction facilitated greater space in the loft area, with vaulted ceilings, dormer windows and bat areas to accommodate the bats displaced by the demolition of the previous house.

 

Website: www.kingspantek.co.uk
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England is short of 4m homes

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Housebuilding needs to increase in the UK. It is predicted that a total of 340,000 homes need to be delivered each year in order to tackle spiralling house prices and the critical shortage of affordable homes. This target has constantly been missed – with figures showing that only 184,000 homes were completed in England in 2016/17. This is more than in recent years, but still below the 2007/08 pre-recession peak of 200,000.

A report by Joe Bradbury, Editor

 

Recent figures published by the National Housing Federation (who represents housing associations in England, social landlords to 5 million people) and Crisis (the national charity for homeless people) reveals the true scale of the housing crisis in England.

The groundbreaking research, conducted by Heriot-Watt University, to be published in full this summer, shows that England’s total housing need backlog has reached four million homes. A new housing settlement is needed to address this shortage, providing a home for everyone who currently needs one, including homeless people, private tenants spending huge amounts on rent, children unable to leave the family home, and even couples delaying having children because they are stuck in unsuitable housing.

To both meet this backlog and provide for future demand, the country needs to build 340,000 homes per year until 2031. This is significantly higher than current estimates (including the Government’s target of 300,000 homes annually), which have never before taken into account the true scale of housing need created by both homelessness and high house prices.

However, simply building a total of 340,000 homes each year will not meet this need – they will need to be the right type of homes. 145,000 of these new homes must be affordable homes, compared to previous estimates of the annual affordable housing need of around 78,000. This means that around two-fifths of all new homes built every year must be affordable homes – in 2016/17, only around 23% of the total built were affordable homes.

How do we fix this?

A substantial part of the problem is that housebuilders in possession of large sites often only release a small amount of homes at a time, as building at a slower pace allows them to maximise the value of their assets. As a result local authorities are now looking at reclaiming and managing the construction of new homes. Councils have largely been removed from housebuilding since the conservative government came into power in 1979, where private construction rose, but not by enough to compensate for the fall in public sector building.

So what have local authorities been doing all this time? Council advisers argue that they been exploring ways of getting back into housebuilding after decades of being removed. Both Labour and Liberal Democrats have historically argued in support of the state to once again commission and build new homes. Nevertheless, conservatives insist on austerity and warn that they need to be cautious about the state getting involved in housebuilding – stating that the country must live within its means.

It is clear that if the state reclaims house building then cost effective methods of building will have to be utilised. Offsite construction provides the solution. Through the use of offsite construction, the government will be able to deliver houses at a lower cost and a rapid pace. Offsite construction has been around for decades; however, it is only now that its benefits are truly being recognised. It has been stated that a main factor holding up housebuilding in the short term, is a lack of materials. The surge in demand in late 2013 and early 2014 led to a decrease in availability of traditional materials such as bricks. This paved the way for prefabricated materials like timber and steel to be used in housebuilding.

There is an urgent need for a mass volume of houses to be constructed in a limited time scale and whether the state takes on housebuilding, or if it is left to private house builders, the benefits of offsite construction could be crucial to meeting targets that have repeatedly been missed. Offsite construction provides housebuilders with programme certainty and quality though simplification of site operations and reduced weather dependencies due to the controlled factory-based assembly process. Houses delivered through offsite construction offer enhanced specification standards and build quality which reduces occupancy costs related to energy use, defects and repairs. There is significant evidence that suggests that the use of offsite construction has been successful when applied to meet the needs of significant housing developments at scale with consequential opportunities for standardisation of design details – particularly to meet the need of government led programmes.

Reducing waste

According to ‘The Waste and Resources Action Programme’, offsite construction can generate up to 90% less waste than traditional onsite building methods. This is largely because a factory is a much more controlled environment than a traditional building site – with far fewer variables.

Offsite construction is far less energy intensive than traditional housebuilding methods. The carbon footprint left by the many construction vehicles and machinery on the site of a traditional construction project alone is considerably larger than that of modular construction. Put simply, fewer vehicles involved and less time spent on site results in less greenhouse gases being released into our environment.

In summary

The positive effects of offsite construction on the housebuilding industry cannot be overstated, and with the UK Environment Agency and other government bodies putting increasing pressure on construction companies to reduce pollution and conform to environmental regulations, it is clear to see that change is imminent – embrace the future, build homes offsite.

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CPC delivers streamlined MMC procurement solution for ground breaking primary school extension

  • Consortium Procurement Construction (CPC) provides project managers Faithful+Gould with fast and effective, OJEU compliant Modular Buildings procurement framework
  • Northumberland County Council embrace innovative Modern Methods of Construction (MMC) for first time, with pioneering 14 week programme
  • Premium quality extension completed early and below budget by M-AR Offsite – well ahead of 2019/2020 school year starting

 

CPC, the new partnership between LHC and Northern Housing Consortium, has provided a fast and efficient procurement framework solution for the construction of Northumberland County Council’s first ever building project utilising the latest innovations in offsite construction.

The result is a stunning 450m2 extension to Horton Grange Primary School in Blyth. Three new classrooms, plus facilities required to support the influx of 105 additional pupils feature high quality finishes and are built to rigorous standards. The main corridor features a continuous full-length skylight – unique in modular building design – that floods this pivotal area in natural light, creating a welcoming learning environment. The contract was completed early in a breath-taking 14 week programme and below the allocated budget.

Faced with short timescales, the council entrusted the project to experienced Newcastle-upon-Tyne project management consultants Faithful+Gould. The company’s project manager Mark Chicken comments:

“The council’s brief was to deliver a high quality modular building and achieve best value for money, but also that the result ‘should not look like a modular building’. As this was a pioneering MMC project, we engaged the procurement support of CPC. From their wide range of frameworks, one specifically introduced for Modular Buildings was selected.

Suppliers are appointed to this framework based on price, quality and compliance, saving precious time and providing both us and the council with the necessary confidence. CPC client support manager Ian Brown’s help and guidance through the framework was invaluable, making the whole process smooth and seamless.”

Following a mini competition, the contract was awarded to M-AR Offsite. Groundworks started on 16 April, whilst construction of the building commenced in parallel at M-AR’s East Yorkshire facility. Craftsmen manufactured the modules in a controlled environment, ensuring the highest levels of quality and compliance. This included all necessary services such as lighting, electrical, plumbing and an innovative hybrid ventilation system – plus washroom facilities, a kitchen, sinks in each classroom, blinds and floor coverings. In short, fully completed rooms.

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Delivery of the building was made exactly on time 6 weeks later to coincide with the late spring half term break, for pupil safety and to avoid any disruption. In an amazing feat of organisation, all 13 modules comprising the building were delivered and fixed in position with millimetre precision in just 24 hours.

Now on site, M-AR’s experienced site team started the final phase. Bricks used to clad the new building were carefully matched to the existing adjacent classroom brickwork. Module interfaces were taped and jointed prior to full decoration of the interior, whilst final connections to power, data and plumbing services were made.

Finishing touches included the installation of furniture and whiteboards – all part of M-AR’s turn-key project solution. On 19 July the project was handed over, ahead of programme and in ample time for the new school term.

Faithful+Gould’s project manager Mark Chicken comments further”

“The reassurance of CPC’s pre-assessment of M-AR Offsite was immediately fulfilled, as the M-AR team’s drive and pro-active work ethos instantly gave us confidence thanks to their experience in MMC solutions. They were dedicated to achieving the vision we shared with them, guiding us through early decision making on fixtures and finishes, essential with offsite construction.

The result speaks for itself. There has been no compromise to any of the 3 key elements of any construction project – Time, Cost and Quality. In fact, all have exceeded expectations, creating a perfect balance. The school and community have a new building in which they can be justifiably proud, now and for many years to come. For me personally, the experience has been nothing but positive.”

 

 

 

https://cpconstruction.org.uk/

https://www.fgould.com/uk-europe/

https://m-ar.co.uk/

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