Modern methods of construction
We want to create more safe, well-built, affordable homes, and embrace innovative and sustainable ways to build them.
We’re exploring how we can meet the government’s future homes standard, including modern methods of construction (MMC). MMC, also known as ‘offsite’, manufactures the major building components in a factory and then brings these to the site for assembly.
Our MMC homes help us to tackle the climate emergency because they are more energy efficient, use sustainable materials, and are quicker to construct.
They also have lots of additional benefits for our customers:
- they create a really comfortable environment, free from drafts and moisture
- they’re more affordable – energy bills will become cheaper because the house is better insulated (it means there’s less noise coming in from outside, too!)
- the filters on the building mean that incoming air is removed of pollutants.
We’re working with lots of great organisations in the Offsite Housing Alliance – we’re a founding member – to develop different house-types. This includes 2D designs (panels are manufactured offsite, and constructed onsite), 3D designs (‘boxes’ are created offsite, and combined onsite to create a home), and an Agile Homes housing model (it’s easy to move and fits on the back of a lorry: you simply drop the home in place and connect it to the mains).
In the future, we’ll be able to choose the best housing design depending on where the development is, and what’s best for our customers.
WikiHouse
A Wikihouse is made of plywood pieces that slot together like a giant jigsaw. The pieces are designed and cut in a local factory, and brought to the site where they’re assembled into a new home.
We built two semi-detached WikiHouses in Sheffield to see if they could be an alternative to traditional ways of building homes.
Our WikiHouse project was a runner-up in the Ashden Awards for Energy Innovation.
We’re still completing the project’s testing and evaluation, but our customers have also told us that their fuel bills are lower and that they love the homes’ sustainable timber frame.
White City
We worked with LoCaL Homes to create this lovely development in Rotherham. The finished panels were manufactured offsite, brought to site on the back of a lorry, and then put together to create the homes.
Our new development
We’re starting work on a Main Road, a new development in Dronfield, where the homes will also be built using a 2D MMC. The 40 new homes will be created following the ‘fabric first’ principle: an approach that creates buildings that require as little energy to run as possible, supplied from the best source possible. Find out more.
