GLOBAL BUILDING MATERIALS COMPANY ETEX GROUP IS DRIVING INNOVATION IN THE CONSTRUCTION INDUSTRY BY LAUNCHING A NEW BRAND, REMAGIN – FOCUSED ON OFFSITE CONSTRUCTION.
The trend towards greater offsite production has prompted Etex Group to leverage its existing offsite construction companies to create a comprehensive, full-service business, from design to installation, to meet customer demand and drive performance.
The new brand – called Remagin – brings together the collective capabilities of three existing businesses, Leeds-based Sigmat, County Durham based EOS and Horizon, operating from Ireland. These businesses have been established in the sector for a considerable time and have developed leading positions in their respective markets in their own right.
By combining the best of their design and engineering expertise, along with manufacturing and installation know how, the new brand will offer industry leading, lightweight factory-assembled panels and associated services, all based on sustainable, light gauge steel framing (LGSF).
And, backed by the €3.7 billion turnover Etex Group with its significant investments in innovation, system testing capacity through five global R&D centres and its building materials expertise – Remagin is well placed to accelerate the scale and impact of offsite construction.
This move offers assurances to existing and potential customers through a powerful combination of financial security, comprehensive services and market leading products, delivered by those at the forefront of design, engineering, manufacturing and installation of complete and compliant light gauge steel systems.
The new commercial branding is part of a broader growth strategy which targets the turnover of the combined companies across the UK and Ireland to more than double between now and 2030 – which will open up significant employment opportunities in various roles across both countries.
Patrick Balemans, Head of the New Ways division of Etex Group of which Remagin is a brand, says: "As part of our sustained efforts to contribute to a better future, we continuously look to evolve what we do and how we do things.
"I'm proud to announce the launch of our new commercial brand, Remagin, which offers highly efficient, cost effective, and sustainable integrated building systems that surpass those of traditional construction methods." Remagin's product range spans from kit-form supplied steel frame systems (SFS) for closing off the external envelope on traditionally built structures, through to full loadbearing LGSF superstructures, which it can design, manufacture and install for buildings up to fifteen storeys high. Remagin is well suited to serve sectors as diverse as housing, flats and apartments, retirement living, care homes, hotels, student accommodation, education and healthcare.
Performance is paramount to Remagin. Full-scale testing regimes study the performance of all products within the Remagin portfolio – including metal, boards and insulation – to see how they work together as systems in real-world environments like fire, wind and rain, and ensure that the solutions perform as expected when installed in projects. It is this approach which has led to the development and launch of a number of successful product innovations such as Thrubuild®, Thruwall® and Pre Assembled Frames (PAF) over the last few years.
This emphasis on consolidating several products within the Remagin solution not only provides greater assurance on performance; it can also accelerate construction considerably, as several components can be installed at the same time in the same panel. For example, external panel products integrating boards, insulation, membranes and factory-fitted windows have recently been introduced and installed on a number of customer sites with great success. As well as construction speed, site efficiency is also improved, as the number of operatives on site and the need to co-ordinate them (and deliveries) is reduced.
As the industry addresses the challenges inherent to building a more sustainable world, offsite construction and light gauge steel frame can have an important role to play. As light gauge steel frame has a high strength to weight ratio, relatively fewer resources are extracted and consumed compared to traditional construction – and the steel Remagin uses has a high recycled content (59%), and already has a high recovery rate in terms of recycling (>90%). Much of Remagin's steel is already covered by EPDs, with the complete range due to be covered by the end of 2023. Beyond steel, Remagin solutions also work well in sustainability terms on other levels. Due to controlled conditions, waste is minimised during manufacturing and at site is virtually eliminated. And, as Remagin solutions often consolidate several components into a single system, vehicle movements to and from site are reduced and emissions consequently minimised.
Scott Bibby, Country Manager for the UK and Ireland, explains: "This is an exciting time in the development of not just our own business but the wider offsite construction sector. Due to the flexibility and proven benefits of panelised building systems, things are really taking off and by combining our joint strengths we are confident we can accelerate and maximise sector growth.
"Remagin is building on the solid foundations established by Sigmat, EOS and Horizon and is backed by Etex Group with its significant R&D and testing capacity and materials expertise. We are in a strong position to add significant lifecycle value and sustainability benefits to our customers."
For more information visit: www.remagin.world
Images
01. Riverside Quarter – the first development in the UK to use Pre-Assembled Frames (PAF)
02. Patrick Balemans, Head of the New Ways division of Etex Group
03. Sandy Park, Exeter – a new 5 star, nine-storey Marriott Hotel
04. A light steel frame systems approach
