NAR House Regeneration Area MMC Trial
Project Details
Project - NAR House Regeneration Area MMC Trial
Sector - Residential
Technology - Components
Project Overview
Lovell is delivering a major housing project on behalf of the Borough Council of King’s Lynn and West Norfolk. Located at the Nar Ouse Regeneration Area (NORA), one of the most recent phases encompasses plans for 105 two- and three-bedroom properties for affordable rent, private rent shared ownership and market sale. Lovell began the initial phases of the development with predominantly traditional methodologies. As confidence grew in offsite manufacturing, they opted to trial a combination of MMC approaches.
This includes offsite-manufactured precast insulated floors from Nuspan Flooring, a system that offers a reduction in labour of up to 83% and no onsite waste. An offsite alternative to block and beam, the system is also 500% quicker to install. The floors have been combined with 24 i-House™️ units from Roofspace Solutions, which speed up construction to watertight stage by 35-40%, building from the slab up to the roof trusses within five days on an average 3-bedroom house. Nuspan’s primary structural closed floor panels combine structural-grade reinforced concrete bonded to high-performance expanded polystyrene (EPS). On this site, all floors have been finished with a structural screed.
Meanwhile, Roofspace Solutions’ i-House uses a bigger variant of the aircrete block, which are assembled in a similar sequence to a timber frame build. This results in a much faster construction process than a traditional build. Elements are designed to be craned into place onto an adhesive bed on standard foundations. Blocks are joined using thin-joint adhesive, providing an extremely airtight finish. Together, the two solutions have helped to speed up overall delivery of the phase by over 45% compared to traditional methods.
This has benefited Lovell’s construction programme, allowing internal trades to begin their work sooner than with a traditional build. In this case, the i-Houses were designed to Lovell’s house types. They have been designed with adaptability and accessibility in mind: with no internal load-bearing walls, walls can be removed at a later stage for disabled access. This is supported by the clear spans provided by Nuspan’s floors. Additionally, some houses were constructed with a third bedroom. Offering a home office space, these MMC houses provide comfortable, responsible places for families to live and work.
The offsite manufacture of both solutions and the construction of larger elements prior to site delivery created less waste and dust for workers. This resulted in a safer and cleaner working environment, with workers and neighbouring residents exposed to fewer dangers and hazardous materials.
