36 Case studies Transforming Construction More Homes Through Manufacture A Housing Forum Working Group Report Case study 8 Riverlight, Vauxhall, London Contributed by Leona Eze Martin Arnold leze@martinarnold.co.uk Name of project: Riverlight Town or City: Nine Elms, Vauxhall, London Brief description: 116 units for shared equity ownership surrounded by private gardens and a new piazza, set on the bank of the River Thames Total cost: £17.5 Million Average cost per unit: Not supplied Expected completion: September 2016 Principal partners: St James, Berkeley Group (contractor), Viridian Housing (client), EPR Architects (designer); Bathsystem ( manufacturer) Martin Arnold (employer’s agent). Length of time to build (from start on site ): two years Estimated length of time to build if using traditional methods (from start on site ): 108 weeks Briefl y describe the construction method Offsite construction of bathroom pods were used for this development and included fi xtures and fi ttings and services ready for connection. Why was this method chosen? Delivering pods that are ‘fi t for purpose’ helped reduce the construction time, making the programme more effi cient and reducing our carbon footprint. The pods benefi ted from a high quality control within the factory enabled a high quality fi nish on the pods. How did costs compare with traditional methods? At present, the development is still under construction. Therefore, it is diffi cult to assess the cost-effi ciency savings in comparison to traditional methods. Would you use this method again? This method of modular construction is gaining momentum within our projects. What are your reasons? The method offers a range of advantages. Using offsite construction and producing the pods abroad helped minimise risks and health & safety issues. Producing materials in a factory enabled readily available materials to be transported to the new development. Fundamentally, this method is an effective modern method of construction, which produced a high quality fi nish. Were there any diffi culties with the method chosen No issues have currently been reported. Were there any additional/ unusual approvals needed and what were they? Using one of the main products of modern methods of construction, modules were selected for this project. Any other comments on offsite manufacture for housing construction? Adopting modern methods of construction, we developed bespoke bathroom pods to meet our client’s specifi cation requirements. The pods were manufactured ahead of time and shipped from mainland Europe before being craned into position and connected to the superstructure and services. The pods will add great value to this major regeneration development for the riverside community to enjoy.
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