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With housing and labour shortages,
sustainability demands and Covid and
Brexit pressures creating a climate for
change, could 2021 finally be the year when
MMC moves into the mainstream and fulfils its
long-held promise? GILL OLIVER reports
Move with
the times
Sigmat
showhouse January 2021 |45
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As budgets and supply chains are Module-AR (M-AR), describes the
slashed, and health and safety issues MMC sector as “picking up pace” as
ratcheted up, there’s ever-mounting the government, councils and others
pressure to build faster but better. find themselves in a corner.
In what seems like the ultimate “There’s a massive need for social
paradox, modular is emerging as the housing and modular is a solution –
obvious solution. Not only to help the that’s why there’s such a spotlight on
industry recover from Covid, but also MMC,” she says
to meet the existing and ever-more- M-AR opened a second factory at the
urgent need for new homes that are end of last year to cope with increased
higher-quality, as well as sustainable. demand. Operating alongside the
Right now, though, it’s the pressing firm’s existing plant in Melton, its new
need for more social housing stock 100,000ft² facility in Hull will allow the
that’s the single biggest driver, company to triple its output to reach
amplified by a raft of government 750 homes a year, rising to 1,000
announcements supporting the homes within two years. M-AR’s own
offsite sector. expansion plans follow a string of
The pandemic has forced councils framework and contract wins, including
to pay out vast sums to temporarily a place on the 15-year £573m Central
house the homeless in often poor- Housing Investment Consortium
quality B&B accommodation, (CHIC) housing programme and the
something that’s proving a powerful £400m Procure Plus off-site housing
incentive to find rapid solutions to framework.
what are, of course, long-term housing It’s not all roses, though. The sector
stock problems. is still battling a certain amount of
Given the speed with which modular negative perception, especially around
housing can be provided, coupled with quality and longevity: “Because
sizeable cost savings and the promise they’ve seen post-war pre-fabs, that’s
of lower utility bills for tenants, it’s a what they sometimes think of, but it’s
no-brainer for a growing number of entirely different now,” M-AR’s Cundill
housing authorities and councils. points out.
Sara Cundill, marketing and brand The way to counter this, she believes,
Module-AR
manager of East Yorkshire-based is to work on demystifying the process:
“We build with a steel frame and all of
our materials are exactly the same as
you’d find in a builders’ merchant or
traditional building site,” says Cundill.
“To those who don’t understand
modular, it can come across like it’s a
magical system when it’s absolutely
not – we’re just taking it indoors.”
Another obstacle is the reluctance,
bordering on hostility, of some legacy
housebuilders when it comes to MMC.
If that’s down to a fear of losing out to
MMC upstarts, it’s wide of the mark,
given that there’s more than enough
work to go around, Cundill observes.
“There’s a solution for every problem
and it’s not a one-size-fits-all,” she
Module-AR Mark Perry, VIVID
adds. “We’re not saying modular is
Module-AR
Module-AR
46| January 2021 showhouse
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Sigmat
the only way to build. With some Since there is still the need to boost supply chain broadens and becomes
projects, modular is not the best all-important consumer confidence, more visible.
solution and it’s better done as a the sector is sure to benefit from the This includes the likes of Northern
hybrid, or traditional build. injection of glamour and brand- Ireland-based Creagh Concrete, which
“Rather than trying to force a square recognition brought by IKEA and aims to “change the way people think
peg into a round hole, our attitude is Skanska owned BoKlok UK. Working about concrete”. It supplies pre-cast
there’s a good solution for everything with housing association VIVID, BoKlok concrete frames made offsite and then
and that’s not necessarily always going will deliver 300 new modular homes craned into position, plus concrete
to be modular.” per year on sites across Hampshire, panels, stairs, landings and floors.
Increasingly, though, the naysayers Surrey, Berkshire and West Sussex, There’s the choice of external finishes
are in the rear-view mirror and even under a five-year agreement. that can match virtually any build type
the most cursory of glances shows Citing the advantages of offsite but, of course, the real trump card is
that most of the big housebuilders are precision-engineered homes that the fact it’s made inside a factory. That
enthusiastic about this new technology harness sustainable technologies, means production schedules are never
and keen to embrace it, if not directly VIVID’s chief executive Mark Perry delayed by weather conditions, and
and completely, then by dipping a toe describes VIVID and BoKlok as being there are potential cost savings.
in the water or teaming up with a aligned in their “forward-thinking Sigmat, which manufactures cold-
Mark Eburne
modular specialist. approach” and sees BoKlok as the rolled steel components and structural
right partner, particularly when it comes steel frames from its manufacturing
to the drive for net-zero carbon. hub in Leeds, is gearing up for what it
Creagh Concrete The Scandinavian-style homes are believes will be a “landmark year” as
also due to land in the heart of Bristol, demand for MMC solutions continues
via the BoKlok on the Brook scheme of to grow. As one of the early innovators
173 units which include one- and two- of MMC, it’s ploughed investment into
bedroom apartments plus two- and R&D and its light gauge steel frame
three-bedroom houses, with prices (LGSF) products form a crucial part of
starting from £150,000. Not only do residential developments stretching
they benefit from that effortless IKEA from Bristol to Scarborough and
chic, they also feature the usual Edinburgh.
modular attributes such as money- Sigmat’s chief executive, Mark
saving enhanced insulation and other Eburne, says construction will look
sustainable aspects which will become very different post-pandemic, and
ever-more crucial as we hurtle towards that the events of last year confirmed
the government’s net-zero target. the urgent need for a new way of
Delivering good-looking, high- building homes.
performance and long-lasting modular “With sustainability right at the top of
▲
homes is becoming easier as the the building agenda, we know LGSF
showhouse January 2021 |47
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Louis Allwright,
Ideal Modular Homes Ideal Modular Homes
Creagh Concrete Ideal Modular Homes modular homes can be manufactured
in just four days and installed onsite in
eight hours – cutting total delivery
programme time by up to 50%.
One of eight modular housing
suppliers, along with the likes of
Cygnum Timber Frame and ilke
Homes, Ideal Modular Homes has
been appointed to a new dynamic
purchasing system offered as part
of Great Places Housing Group’s
£750m Innovation Chain North (ICN)
procurement framework. In August,
it scooped a share of a five-year
Sigmat out-performs traditional methods £300m new-build housing contract with
on every level,” he says. “As more the Royal Borough of Greenwich,
developers familiarise themselves which will see 750 modular affordable
with the huge benefits of LGSF council homes across 60 sites.
construction, we anticipate our market To win the bid, Ideal teamed up with
share will continue to strengthen award-winning architects shedkm,
throughout 2021 and beyond.” whose director Alex Flint believes the
He adds that where building sites stylish new homes in Greenwich will
have reopened, just 60% of workers “change the perception towards offsite
can safely return under social manufacturing, through carefully
distancing rules. In contrast, MMC crafted and long-lasting materials, and
tends to need less operatives onsite considered internal layouts”.
and is therefore less impacted. And at a recent conference, Ideal
With tighter immigration rules Modular Homes’ senior project
post-Brexit and the fall-out from manager Louis Allwright pointed out
Covid exacerbating existing labour the practical aspects of modular –
shortages and the fact that LGSF although construction time is halved,
construction is 30% faster than quality and robustness is maximised.
traditional methods, he sees it as One of his main messages was that
the obvious solution to meeting by collaborating with top architects,
the increasingly urgent demand for affordable housing can be
high-quality housing. sustainable as well as beautiful.
The genuinely high standard of MMC He added: “It’s important, especially
products and volumetric modular following the pandemic, that we’re
homes, many of which are winning highlighting the capacity within the
awards and plaudits in equal measure, industry and the role that modular and
is changing perceptions among the offsite construction can play in the
trade and the public. drive to build high-quality homes
Ever since it burst onto the scene in quickly, to meet rising demand in the
late 2018/early 2019 and opened its housing sector.”
70,000ft² factory in Liverpool, Ideal Maybe, just maybe, 2021 will be the
Modular Homes has been shaking up year we truly embrace building faster
the housebuilding industry. Ideal’s and smarter. sh
48| January 2021 showhouse
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