Offsite Construction. The most viable solution for UK Schools?
Schools across the country are considering expanding their current facilities to cater for growing class sizes and increase their intake.
Historically, the builders would be called in and a brick-built extension would be constructed over many months (or years!) which can be costly, messy and time-consuming. Fortunately, advances in modern day construction techniques have given firms like ours the opportunity to make alternative buildings available to schools which offer a more cost-effective solution to expanding their capacity. Modular buildings have recently been recognised by the Department for Education as primary educational spaces.
Did you know that?:
- Wood has far better insulation properties than other building materials such as concrete and brick. It is 350 times better at keeping in heat than steel, as you would expect as wood is a non-conductor of heat and electricity. Wood can also be prepared so that it stands up to the weather quite well, keeping heat in and draughts and rain out.
- Using wood to replace steel and other high energy materials in a building, it is possible to cut the carbon emissions per cubic metre by 0.9 tonnes.
- As well as reducing carbon emissions and carbon footprint, using wood as the major material in a building also can save on the overall budget. Some estimates put the saving at around 5% of the building cost of a brick built structure.
- Environmentalists favour timber framed buildings. Wood is the ultimate renewable building material when it is produced sustainably. As we fell trees (from well managed UK forests), we plant more and it is possible to generate a constant supply. Fast growing trees absorb carbon from the atmosphere and lock it in for the duration of it’s use – until released by eventual decay or fire.
- Studies have shown that the energy use in making a steel girder is over 10 times that used in producing an equivalent sized wooden beam from a piece of freshly sawn timber.
The department for education has recently revealed plans for establishing a new framework for delivering schools to meet the increasing demand for places.
The four-year offsite schools framework aims to utilise methods in the design for manufacture and assembly (DfMA) in addition to offsite techniques to create a more frequent production of school buildings. The overall target is to deliver up to 100 new school projects each year in the next five years.
DfMA is a specific design approach which focuses primarily on creating more simple manufacturing processes in addition to efficient assembly lines.
Why is eco-offsite construction a great option for school expansion?
This new framework is hugely positive for our education system. The modern eco-solution to traditional carbon heavy, labour intensive and old-fashioned building methods is now formally recognised by the Dept for Education. Contemporary Roundhouses are constructed entirely from UK timber, designed as nurturing spaces & some of the most aesthetically pleasing in the UK.
We shape our buildings. Thereafter, they shape us.
William Churchill
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