British Offsite offers a range of solutions to the complexities of modern housebuilding by utilising best in class modern methods of construction alongside traditional construction techniques.
High density, urban brownfield development presents some of the most challenging projects in the residential arena. The pressure to deliver units at scale and within clearly defined design parameters means many projects default to a more traditional approach to construction. This leaves them vulnerable to supply chain delays, labour shortages, storage and delivery issues – all of which can result in increased costs and a slower return on investment. These time and budgetary pressures, alongside commitments to environmental/sustainability and health and safety targets, make running a site a complex task.
By bringing critical processes off-site, project teams can eliminate risk and take total control over their final design solutions. This, alongside traditional on-site volume housebuilding methods, results in a hybrid solution that eases the pressure of delivering world-class architecture and design.
This results in development projects that benefit from:
- Acceleration of overall delivery/completion
- Reduced site waste
- A reduction in on-site inventory (ie less breakage/wastage)
- No more labour/skills shortages
- Better cash-flow management
- Improved health & safety issues
- Reduced noise pollution & disruption
British Offsite's approach also helps it deal with the skills shortages facing the industry. British Offsite managing director Shaun Weston said: "The skills shortage in the construction industry was widely reported before Brexit, and now we're in a post-Brexit environment where the pandemic has further reduced access to skills. With the work of up to five trades consolidated into our panels, our customers are more protected from the skills shortage and construction can continue unhindered."
A good example of how this works in reality is Abbey Quay, Barking, a new urban riverside development in the London Borough of Barking & Dagenham where 13 residential blocks range from 7 to 29-storeys in height. The six-acre, 1,000 homes scheme will be delivered over the next 5-years. Given the scale of the development, the project team opted for a hybrid solution using British Offsite's Uni System, the most advanced light gauge steel panel system in the marketplace. Uni System incorporates highly flexible set of products capable of meeting every architectural need with precision.
For the superstructure, the project team at Abbey Quay utilised Unipanel, a light gauge steel (LGS) closed panel system. This LGS system comes pre-fitted with insulation, doors, windows, vent apertures, fire stopping and façade fixing systems. This is complemented by the use of Uniwall, an internal LGS compartmentalisation closed panel pre-fitted with insulation, doorways, MEP and service void battens.
Manufactured offsite, these systems offer benefits including the rapid delivery of dry envelopes, reducing weather-induced delays, improving health & safety, streamlining fit-out and accelerating handovers. All homes provide contemporary open plan living with designer kitchens, luxury bathrooms, smart technology incorporating a range of British Offsite fitted modules including bathroom vanity units, quartz worktops and bespoke storage solutions. Its MMC approach cuts down the time between a site's ground-breaking and first handovers by up to 20 per cent.
As champions of precision, the consistent quality of each panel produced is guaranteed by the technical design process, state-of-the-art machinery, robotics capabilities and quality control systems. British Offsite is equally exact about construction sequencing and have a full set of accreditations to meet the requirements of technical managers.
The future is exciting for British Offsite - the build is well on its way for
the second British Offsite factory - 137,000 sq ft new factory at
the Horizon 120 Business, Innovation & Logistics park. The new factory
will be operational from May 2023. The company believes the new factory
will deliver 4,000 homes per year. The new steel panel factory will
include a £6m production line, being delivered by Swedish manufacturer Randek
AB.
Source: www.britishoffsite.com
