11 Light weight steel frames, as used by Osborne to build Brunel Hall, a low cost housing scheme for Crawley Borough Council, are becoming increasingly popular in housebuilding most popular way of building homes in England and Wales since the 1930s. The work is traditionally done by bricklayers, who build both inner and outer skins of the cavity wall. Much of the remaining 10 percent of new housing uses timber frame (which accounts for about 70 percent in Scotland). The small remaining portion is built using what are known as Modern Methods of Construction (MMC) where a significant proportion is built in a factory. Timber frame construction is very well established and considered more or less traditional, even though much is factory made. Masonry construction has remained Using Fusion Building Systems offsite technology meant that this student accommodation for Oxford University could be delivered quickly the most popular for a number of reasons, but a lot of it is to do with costs. It’s been more economical. But as labour costs have risen and traditional construction has become more expensive, the balance is tipping, particularly as demand rises for alternative methods. As factory production is scaled up, it is anticipated that costs of building using offsite prefabrication construction will fall. That’s not to say it’s a foregone conclusion with housebuilders still preferring traditional construction for a number of reasons, which we’ll get on to later. However, the Government is certainly encouraging greater use of offsite construction to increase housebuilding and recently awarded a £22m grant to a major construction company, Laing O’Rourke, to invest in new technology. The contractor’s offsite ‘kit of parts’ construction system, Design for Manufacture and Assembly (DfMA), was used to deliver the Leadenhall Building, also known as The Cheesegrater, in the City of London. It was also used to build around 70 percent of the UK’s first privately funded council housing Why investor L&G is backing offsite construction — Legal & General has invested over £1 billion in building new student accommodation over the last three years and has used a variety of offsite manufactured components in the new buildings, including bathroom pods. It is now looking to use this building method as it extends its property portfolio into the private rented sector. It aims to grow this portfolio to well in excess of £1bn over the next five years across the UK. James Lidgate, Head of Residential, at L&G says: “We’re keen to harness modern methods of construction for a number of reasons; it provides better quality, and meets higher sustainable credentials whilst delivering lower operating and lifecycle costs.” It has committed plans to date for £200m of development, with buildings set to be between four and 10 storeys. 1 Professor John Miles, University of Cambridge and Professor Nick Whitehouse Oxford Brookes University, Offsite Housing Review, February 2013, commissioned by Department for Communities and Local Government, published by the Construction Industry Council 2 According to a report by accountants KPMG and the London Chamber of Commerce and Industry (LCCI), about 20% more construction managers, surveyors, electricians and other trades will be needed to meet demand, over the next four years, than were needed from 2010-13. November 2014
14 Publizr Home