In pursuit of wow

Wimpey Homes, The Guinness Trust and manufacturer Britspace Modular Systems are addressing that problem by producing a factory-made house that looks ultra-conventional. The Amphion Consortium is applying factory production techniques to timber-system homes, but not dictating the cladding (see box). But in the London sales market, Thirlstone Homes is boldly developing and marketing houses that break with housebuilding’s shibboleths: they are brick-free, have metal roofs and look downright modern.

So far, the housebuilder has rolled out four schemes, with suitably modern monikers and trendy locations: Six in Fulham, Avant Garde in Notting Hill, Ventana in Covent Garden, and Geraldine Road in Wandsworth. Those already marketed are selling well, off plan. “There are people wanting to move from a Victorian house, and there is very little else that they can choose from,” says Keith Ireland, managing director of Thirlstone Homes. “We are building for a target market that is smaller, but their desire to buy is stronger.”

The first batch of schemes includes some where Thirlstone bought the design with the site, but the housebuilder is also commissioning designs from architects’ practices outside housebuilding’s mainstream, like loft fit-out specialist HM2, part of Harper Mackay. Schemes are based around similar build technology: steel frame structure, self-coloured rendered elevations, metal roofs, aluminium windows, and underfloor heating inside.

“What we are doing here is no more expensive than the traditional house,” says Ireland. It is the build process that changes. “These projects are a lot harder work for us. With steel frame we need to get it right first time. We have lost the ability to, say, move a wall,” he adds. “With most of these schemes we have spent a lot of pre-site time,” says Nick Mansfield, managing director of Thirlstone Homes (Western). “We have to deal with issues like the implications of underfloor heating on the design. But once we get on site, homes are quicker to build. We have a very detailed procurement programme.”

This is only the start of an ongoing innovation process. Thirlstone develops about 100 units a year but sees the potential to take modern homes out of the capital to towns with plenty of young professionals, like Reading. It is working with an architect on a glass and cedar-clad, cube-shaped eco-design for a house and plans to transfer some technology from urban schemes, like steel frame, into the more traditional-looking house designs it builds in non-urban areas.

“We want to acquire sites where we can do exciting schemes,” says Mansfield. “We’ll continue with the drive for modern architecture, but only in the right places.”