Tom Barker (11 June, page 34) asks us to believe that the building industry is not catching up with the technological ideas that were proposed back in the early 1960s and then sets out to "explode a few myths".
This led to the sweeping claim that modular prefabrication adds 10-20% to project construction costs and that its quality is poor.

Tom is obviously leading a sheltered existence in his traditionally built ivory tower. Were he to come down from it, he would find numerous examples of well-designed and well-constructed modular buildings that were no more expensive than their conventionally built equivalents – for example, the Peabody Trust's latest modular housing development at Baron's Place in Southwark, south London.

Likewise, the Unite Group has built more than 26,000 university study–bedrooms in Britain – most of them modular – which cost no more to build than the traditional option. Moreover, if the overall costs of modular building methods are taken into consideration, including speed of construction, they are often significantly cheaper.

Postscript

John Prewer, John Prewer Associates, Kent