Archive for category: Latest News

Since it was introduced in 2013 the European safety standard EN 16005 remains a key standard to be followed to ensure pedestrian safety at automatic doors. Considered to be a more onerous standard it defines the responsibilities of all those in the construction industry from manufacturer to end user and including architects and contractors.

 

GEZE UK has revised and updated its popular and informative RIBA-approved CPD Safeguarding Pedestrians from Accidents at Power Operated Doorsets.

 

The 40-minute seminar looks at the European standard EN 16005 in detail and explains the responsibilities of all involved to ensure safety and compliance at all stages of construction.

 

It explains everything from activation distances for escape routes and non-escape routes; the danger points of automatic sliding, swing and revolving doors and how safety features such as finger guards and protection leaves can be used to reduce the risk of injury; and looks at revolving doors which are potentially the most dangerous and which received the most significant changes.

 

It is intended for Chartered members of RIBA but is also suitable for facilities managers, property managers and contractors.

 

Offering architects and specifiers invaluable advice and guidance, which contributes to their continuing professional development, this updated training seminar gives a better understanding of the standards and regulations surrounding pedestrian safety at automatic doors. The seminar is included in RIBA’s core curriculum: Design, Construction and Technology; Health, Safety and Wellbeing; and Legal, Regulatory and Statutory Compliance for the General Awareness knowledge level.

 

It can be presented in person or virtually via a variety of online platforms and at a time to suit, usually lunchtime but breakfast seminars or afternoon sessions can be accommodated.

 

To find out more or to book a CPD seminar, email cpd@geze.com or visit the cpd information page on www.geze.co.uk under services.

 

National Specification Manager Richard Richardson-Derry said: “Automatic doors are a machine and just like any machine they can cause harm if not used properly, however we cannot expect pedestrians who may not be so familiar with them to be aware of the potential danger, therefore those of us in the industry need to take responsibility and ensure they are safe for all to use.

 

This CPD explains how to do just that and that if we all play our part we can limit or even eliminate accidents at pedestrian doors.”

 

RIBA Chartered Architects are obliged to undertake a minimum of 35 hours a week to maintain their competence. Visit the RIBA website www.architecture.com for more information on those obligations.

 

Other presentations offered by GEZE UK, include Specifying, Installing and Maintaining Ironmongery for Fire Doors; Designing Effective Natural Heat and Smoke Ventilation; and Removing Barriers to Access.

For more information about GEZE UK’s comprehensive range of automatic and manual door closers

call 01543 443000 or visit www.geze.co.uk.

 

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THE SUMMER ISSUE OF MMC MAGAZINE IS NOW AVAILABLE TO READ ONLINE

 

 

Nick Cowley, CEO of Modular Group Investments, surveys recent developments in and around the UK housing market

– concluding that demand for quickly and efficiently-built homes is about to soar.

 

 

 

“Massive prefab factory to make one ‘modular’ home every HOUR in new era of flatpack housing”.

 

That was a headline in the Daily Mail back in June. Nothing all that exciting, you might say. But no matter what you think of the Daily Mail, when it starts covering a topic, you know it’s beginning to break through into the mainstream.

The news around UK modular hasn’t been overwhelmingly positive recently. The collapse of modular housebuilder Urban Splash understandably attracted a lot of attention – with some commentators using it to cast doubt on modular’s ability to replace conventional housebuilding, and suggest it might turn out to be a short-lived fad rather than the future of global construction.
But while what happened to Urban Splash is indisputably bad news for the sector – and particularly the suppliers who’ve been left millions of pounds out of pocket – it does nothing to change the fact that if we want to keep building houses at scale without destroying the planet, modular is the only solution.

Small steps in the right direction?

Britain’s tabloid press isn’t known for its subtlety or grasp of detail, but the Daily Mail explained the situation pretty accurately – given a worsening housing crisis, demand for affordable housing that’s only going to rise, an ageing construction workforce, ongoing supply chain disruption, and, above all, the need for Britain and countries around the world to hit net zero, we have to be building homes more quickly and efficiently than ever before.

The way to do that is for construction to switch from outdated brick-and-mortar, muddy field housebuilding and embrace precision offsite manufacturing instead.

While the government needs to be doing much more to support the transition to modular, there are growing signs its thinking the same.

Its £150m Help to Build scheme might be a drop in the ocean given the scale of the challenge ahead of us, but the core principle – letting people build their own homes with only a 5% deposit towards land and construction costs – is one that chimes perfectly with modular.

Want to help people quickly, efficiently and affordably build their own homes while avoiding spiralling mortgage costs? Modular is the answer.

The establishment of the government’s Modern Methods of Construction Task Force is another – very small – step in the right direction.

However, it’s in the decade to come that I think we’ll see modular start to rapidly take off in the UK. Net zero by 2050 sounds comfortingly far off – so far off, in fact, that ministers, developers and others can happily put the issue on the back burner for a while longer.

The government’s more recent pledge – to cut carbon emissions by nearly 80% between now and 2035 – is a different story. That requires deep, radical changes now. As that starts to dawn on businesses and sectors throughout the economy, they’re going to quickly realise the need for an alternative. Luckily for them, modular already exists, and is ready to go.

45% less carbon

The case for embracing modular is only going to get stronger as the years go on – as is the evidence for its climate-friendly credentials.

The last few months have also brought the publication of research by academics at the University of Cambridge and Edinburgh Napier University. The study examined the construction of two modular housing developments by HTA Design – the Ten Degrees Towers in Croydon, which at 44 and 38-storeys are the world’s tallest modular buildings to date, and The Valentine student accommodation block in Redbridge.
Across the two projects, there are 900 homes – and the academics concluded constructing them used 45% less carbon than if they’d been built using traditional methods, saving 28 tonnes of carbon in this one case alone.

The sooner the vast majority of British buildings are built this way the better.

For more information, call MGI on 0330 1340290 or  CLICK HERE to visit the website.

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THE SUMMER ISSUE OF MMC MAGAZINE IS NOW AVAILABLE TO READ ONLINE

The Wee House Company Completes its First TapcoSlate-roofed, Modular 3 Bedroom Bespoke Home Build on Islay

The latest Wee House has just been completed, a bespoke 3-bedroom home measuring 94 square metres.

The owners of this gorgeous new property decided to relocate to the Hebridean Isle of Islay for their retirement after falling in love with the island following a trip there many years ago and tasked the Wee House Company to build an off-site, bespoke modular home that fitted all of their unique requirements.
The efficiencies gained through running site preparation and module construction concurrently meant that the build was completed within 16 weeks. The style of the house complements its very picturesque setting and is in-tune with the island’s surrounding architecture. The house has the proportions of a traditional cottage, clad in vertical larch with a TapcoSlate Classic composite slate roof and coloured front doors sit comfortably in the stunning, rural landscape with its background rolling hills and outlook to the sea; quiet, tranquil and calm. In terms of design, a lot of consideration was given to the owners’ island living, with larger-than-normal larder cupboards installed in the kitchen to store bulk supplies during winter months as well as generous storage for outdoor apparel in the porch area.
Although this Wee House looks traditional in appearance, as mentioned previously, it was actually produced as a modular unit under controlled factory conditions, thus enabling precision in all aspects of the build as well as allowing strict quality control throughout the process. Strict environmental performance criteria had to be met, this was achieved through a combination of high-quality insulation and better air tightness on the house build, as well as solar photovoltaic panels included as a renewable energy source.
Launched in 2013, The Wee House Company has been blazing a trail in modular house building for almost a decade. With a desire to make custom-build properties accessible anywhere in the UK, father and daughter Ian Hope and Jennifer Higgins joined forces to design, build and deliver homes quickly and cost effectively, all with a depth of construction experience that places them at the forefront of modular build innovations. Ian and Jennifer realised some time ago that modular construction has a number of benefits and is an ultra-efficient method of creating a custom home for a plot of land. By building 95% of the home in-factory, customers’ benefit from the economies of scale normally reserved for larger housing developments – which is no small cost-saving!
Modular build allows a home to be built much quicker than with traditional building methods. Wee Houses are completed to ceiling height, with kitchens, bathrooms, plumbing and electrics already fitted before they leave the factory – fully complete and ready to move in within 3 weeks of being delivered to site. As the single contractor responsible for all works from design through to completion, The Wee House Company is in a unique position to provide accurate, upfront costs for the entire project, from start to finish.

Tapco Roofing Products is proud to provide the choice of its flagship TapcoSlate Classic roofing product to customers and partner with such a unique and innovative company in the UK modular marketplace; and urge you to go check out The Wee House Company’s website for more images and completed bespoke modular housing projects www.theweehousecompany.co.uk

www.tapcoroofingproducts.com

 

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THE SUMMER ISSUE OF MMC MAGAZINE IS NOW AVAILABLE TO READ ONLINE

With a national housing shortage and ambitious housebuilding targets for developers and local councils to meet, is now really the time to put the pressure on the industry to explore more sustainable methods of construction? The answer is a very clear yes from Wayne Oakes, a director at the sustainable engineering consultancy, Dice. He believes a greener modular building approach can increase sustainability, reduce construction time and begin to tackle the huge volumes of waste generated by the construction industry.

 

The UK’s housing crisis is well documented, with ambitious targets set by the government of 300,000 new homes a year.

With that comes a secondary problem, that of construction waste. A DEFRA report highlighted that in 2018, construction, demolition and excavation accounted for 62% of the UK’s total waste.

So how do developers continue to build at speed, reduce the volume of waste materials and create more sustainable methods of construction?

The answer is staring us all in the face – modular homes.

Modular homes are designed to be energy efficient and very efficient to manufacture. They’re created off site – where waste can be kept to a minimum – and different elements of a build can all be happening at the same time.

Offsite construction enables phases of work to be undertaken concurrently. Onsite substructure and infrastructure work can be taking place whilst the superstructure is being built in a factory. Factory conditions also mean that there are no delays due to inclement weather.

And there are environmental benefits to working offsite, helping us to fight the climate crisis. It is more straightforward to manage waste in a factory environment rather than on a construction site. It allows for far more control meaning less contamination, more recycling and less overall waste.

Another large contributor to climate change is pollution and energy output. Modular designs see a 40% reduction in HGV movement at construction sites, and manufacturing off site also minimises the time and energy spent on site.

This cuts travel and transport, as workers are more likely to be concentrated around a specific factory. Due to these factors, overall pollution is reduced.

Recycling is another big focus across every sector. Materials in traditional construction like timber, brick and concrete, are very rarely re-used and it can be hard work to do so. The volumetric and panelised systems found in modular building lend themselves to recycling in a much more practical and efficient way.

There are challenges, as there are with every construction project, and they do require a different approach to traditional methods of construction.

Modular projects and units do differ from the traditional, standard residential units. They have specific requirements in terms of their sub-structures and external works. This is particularly the case in sites with gradients and water management requirements.

On our first modular project, we worked very closely with the manufacturer on specific design standards, in particular with regards to the National Housebuilding Council’s requirements for the substructure.

This was a condition of the offsite manufacturing partner, to ensure that each of the plots met the requirements of building control.

As engineers, we need to be agile, responsive to site specific needs and challenge design to ensure modular methods of construction get the recognition they deserve.

We’ve realised technology’s potential and are driving the change.  It’s our duty to think creatively to develop new, more sustainable ways of construction and ultimately living.