COVER STORY hoUSe There is a mechanical ventilation with heat recovery system (MVHR) which works to ensure air flow through the property and capture any heat before exiting the home. The level of performance is more easily achieved offsite than using more traditional building materials. The vision is that with consistent factory conditions and quality control, Urban Splash will be able to deliver homes of a consistently higher quality with fewer customer care issues. Areas developed to suit factory manufacture include elements delivered pre-sized to the factory for assemble, glulam and timber I-beams are all delivered to the right size to ensure an efficient assembly line and dry construction which is essential for this environment. QA control is more easily achieved with the smaller, more focussed assembly teams helping to create this unique concept.
BIM and factory-based design technology allows precise scheduling of all components, reducing waste and increasing cost certainty. The hoUSe envelope would meet CFSH level 6 (the highest level) for thermal performance. This can be achieved with traditional building techniques but it would prove much more difficult. The offsite method that the team has adopted achieves this as standard. Other examples of the benefits of offsite construction include the window seats and walk in bay windows which were designed to be factory-fitted, the solar thermal installations were developed through consideration of alternative products and assembly tested to suit factory application and transport.
TOM BLOXHAM TO PRESENT AT EXPLORE OFFSITE HOUSING Chairman and co-founder of Urban Splash, Tom Bloxham, will be speaking at the forthcoming Explore Offsite Housing event which will bring together technology leaders to discuss the opportunity the housing shortage presents for offsite construction to play a major role in the coming years.
Offsite manufacture also makes a positive contribution to the impact that the construction industry has on a development’s existing neighbourhood. It reduces the number of deliveries to site, the number of operations which need to take place onsite, less noise and time with fewer transport problems. There are higher levels of safety and welfare for the team with less working at height. Each terraced house is delivered in two or three modules depending on whether it is a two or three-storey property. As such, each volumetric module has a floor and a roof, which means excellent acoustic insulation. The units come to site almost complete so the roof finish, windows and cladding are factory-fitted. Each block is zipped up around the edges and between each other after being craned into place. The interiors come fully-fitted, so kitchens, bathrooms, floor finishes and mechanical and electrical installations are all carried out at the factory. The design team and factory team have investigated a wide range of designs, materials, products and fittings to maximise the level of offsite manufacture whilst providing the highest quality finish. The houses can be finished in almost anything, which is essential to expand the concept UK-wide, where local context will require a variety of external solutions.
2 For the hoUSe concept, offsite construction has allowed for greater quality control and project management efficiency. The design and delivery approach adopted by Urban Splash and the project team encapsulates everything that offsite construction and factorycontrolled methods of manufacture can provide. Pioneering projects like New Islington are key to providing exciting, flexible and defect-free living spaces across the UK that appeal to a wide range of homebuyers from first-timers to expanding families.
Taking place 23 & 24 March 2016, at the NEC, Birmingham, the event will be a platform for construction clients, architects, engineers and contractors to come together and pave a way forward for the industry and the housing sector. TO VIEW THE FULL SPEAKER LINE UP VISIT: www.exploreoffsite.co.uk
Images: 01-02. Internal and External View. Copyright: Urban Splash
For more information visit: www.urbansplash.co.uk www.shedkm.co.uk
SPRING 2016 | WWW.OFFSITEMAGAZINE.CO.UK
7