British Offsite offers a range of solutions to the complexities of modern housebuilding by utilising best in class modern methods of construction (MMC) 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 offsite, 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 (i.e. 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 says: "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 is at 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 five-years. Given the scale of the development, the project team opted for a hybrid solution using British Offsite's UNisystem, the most advanced light gauge steel panel system in the marketplace. UNisystem incorporates a 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 and safety, streamlining fitout 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%.
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 second British Offsite factory – the new 180,000sq ft Horizon factory in Braintree is now complete. The new factory will be operational from July 2023. The company estimates the new factory will deliver 4,000 homes per year. The new steel panel factory will include a £6million production line, being delivered by Swedish manufacturer Randek AB. Shaun Weston is overseeing a workforce of around 130 people, ensuring those Randek's robots, programmed by British Offsite's design and software experts, toe the line.
The robots – mesmerising giants that have multi-jointed mobile 'arms' with claws and magnets – are guided in part by sensors and can transport, grab, cut, drill, nail, screw, weld, glue, fill, spray-paint and much, much more. Randek's systems, developed specifically for the building industry and tailored for each client, have no-nonsense names like AutoWall, AutoFloor, AutoEye and even ZeroLabor, and their customers hold world record speed records for making and assembling basic building components, such as walls, floors and roofs.
Shaun Weston is a robot convert because he's a passionate homebuilder: "You are actually going to get a home which is more perfectly tailored for you then you could perhaps ever imagine, and infinitely better made," he says. Choice of fittings and surfaces is multiplied through more efficient sourcing, buying, delivery and storage systems. The specifications and overall quality are checked at every turn.
Hyper-accurate machinery ensures precision cutting and assembly for every component, which will be delivered to site flawlessly finished and carefully packages. This helps to eliminate mistakes through human error. Because the company is not building outside there is no mess or waste and little chance of damage from bad weather or inexpert handling. The robots – or more precisely the designers and technicians who programmed them – know what they want.
Costs are radically reduced which means higher quality for less money. "We even have the technology and the budget to build-in sophisticated extras like our digital showers and our hot water kitchen taps," adds Shaun. Wait times are substantially cut. The robots minimise waste, too, and even manage their own recycling. There is an acknowledged skill shortage throughout the building industry and British Offsite's robots are filling the gap, though some traditional trades are still used on-site for finishing touches.
British Offsite's factories are part of its innovative 'Fabric First' approach to homebuilding. In simple terms, this makes the basic structure of a building the priority. Reducing heat loss is done at source using smart building materials and construction methods. Cutting heat loss in turn cuts energy use and carbon emissions – the golden goal of modern life. It's good for the planet and good for the homebuyer.
For more information visit: britishoffsite.com
