PBC Today finishes off our preview of the Building Innovation Awards with a look at the Best Offsite/Modular Innovation category
The nominees for Best Offsite/Modular Innovation are:
Armstrong Fluid Technology
Scaleable Temporary Energy Centres, designed, manufactured and installed by Armstrong Fluid Technology, harness the benefits of offsite/modular construction to solve problems inherent in large multi-phase projects (such as data centres and district heating schemes) where demand for heating/cooling will increase exponentially over a number of years. In addition to delivering all of the usual benefits of offsite manufacture (streamlining project management, reducing traffic and contractor involvement on site, lowering safety risk etc.) these innovative plantrooms solve the considerable technical and financial problems of operating over-sized HVAC equipment whilst a major development project is under construction/expansion.
Beattie Passive
Haus4one by Beattie Passive has been designed for Councils, Housing Associations and Developers as an affordable, Passivhaus solution to the UK’s growing homelessness crisis. The relocatable homes are manufactured offsite to turnkey and delivered to site, with fast connections to mains or temporary services. Haus4one is an ideal solution to meet our client’s immediate housing needs.
Home Group
Gateshead Innovation Village is an exciting live research project by HomeGroup, looking at new ways to solve the housing crisis. The village of 41 homes for affordable rent is testing a range of modern methods of construction all on one site, including timber frame, light gauge steel and aerated concrete panel systems. By investigating how to create quality homes, more quickly and efficiently, Home Group aims to inspire change in the UK housing industry.
Kier
The insight provided through The Choice Factory has allowed our industry to consider the ‘psycho-logical’ barriers to adopting offsite construction; unlocking a whole new approach for accelerating an ‘offsite revolution’. Through the application of behavioural science, we are turning the spotlight away from issues of fragmentation, low margins, imbalances in risk apportionment and low R&D investment, towards the successful implementation of offsite solutions; shifting perceptions and creating a positive social norm for offsite.
Midland Steel Reinforcement Supplies
Midland Steel have been offering prefabricated reinforcing steel solutions to the Irish and UK construction markets for the last number of years with preassembled slab panels, wall cages, columns, foundation pads, trench bases and bespoke reinforcing steel elements following a BIM process. Clients have benefitted from a distinct time and quality advantage over traditional methods while increasing site safety. With the current skilled labour crisis, Midland Steel’s prefabricated service is the answer for contractors.
ModPods International Ltd (Part of the Just Solutions Group Ltd)
ModPods International have created an impressive and innovative range of modular homes, that are offsite factory built to a high quality and precision and delivered to a pre-prepared site. Offering a full turnkey solution from design to delivery including manufacture and site development. For all your housing requirements from single storey single occupation to two storey multiple occupation. ModPods are spacious desirable homes for the public and private sector creating homes for the future.
Offsite Solutions
Offsite Solutions supplies over 10,000 bathroom pods every year to contractors and developers. There was an opportunity for an innovative pod solution manufactured in the UK which combines the speed, quality and site advantages of steel-framed pods whilst taking the standard of finish to a completely new level. This new premium steel and concrete bathroom pod offers unprecedented design flexibility and unrivalled build quality for the offsite construction of high specification wet rooms and bathrooms.
Swan Housing Association
Trailblazer Swan Housing Association is championing the benefits of modular innovation to support the delivery of affordable homes. They have not only invested £3m in their own factory in Basildon, Essex and are using it to deliver high quality precision engineered volumetric modular homes from Cross Laminated Timber (CLT) but also they’ve welcomed over 500 people to their factory, contributed widely to thought leadership to educate the sector and launched a modular housing guide!
The winner of the Best Offsite/Modular Innovation award will be announced on 23 October at The Midland, Manchester.
