Thirty houses delivered from Swan’s factory to Beechwood Village in Basildon.
Beechwood Village in Basildon is the first development to receive modular houses from Swan Housing Association’s factory in Warrington. Its first 200-home phase is now complete – of which 30 houses came from the factory.
Swan plans to supply a further 520 modular homes to Beechwood, which is being delivered by Swan’s development arm NU Living. Buyers can customise their home via NU Living’s configurator, which allows them to choose items including flooring, door colours, and colours of roof tiles and window frames.
According to Geoff Pearce, Swan’s executive director of regeneration and development, the biggest challenges have come in the design phase: “Our consultants have been brilliant but the level of design detail and coordination of drawings is far greater for manufactured homes than it is for traditional buildings – we can’t leave queries to be worked out on site or during the construction process, so this has required a change of mindset.”
Swan’s modular design guide, produced by Waugh Thistleton Architects with input from engineer Ramboll, has helped with the design process, says Pearce.
Out on site, it’s a case of tight tolerances and tight logistics. “The foundations need to be set out with absolute accuracy and, as crane hire is expensive, deliveries need to be planned with military precision to reduce waiting times,” says Pearce.
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