The Global Village has three key functions. It provides a one-stop shop for housing professionals to explore the latest innovations. It enables manufacturers to gauge consumer response to new products, and it lets manufacturers and housing groups conduct ongoing research into new materials and building techniques. So that visitors can see how the technology works, each home must show its inner workings by incorporating an unfinished or see-through section of wall or floor.
The onus will be on viable rather than blue-sky innovation. Simon Palmer of The Palmer Partnership, the company behind the Zethus Centre, is keen to ensure prototypes do not obscure products with commercial potential. "Products have to be commercially viable otherwise there's no point in doing it.
If there is anything wacky it has to sit alongside something that works and is achievable. If we keep promoting things that are too expensive it will put people off," he says.
Partners for the first three plots have already been signed up and their homes will be built in the autumn. The lead partners of each project are Beazer Partnerships with its timber-frame Amphion technology, Celcon with its concrete Jamera system and Kingspan with its structural insulated panel Tek Haus (see boxes). All the homes will be funded by the manufacturers and their partners, together with any funding they may attract, such as Partners in Innovation grants.
A fourth test rig will be built by a consortium of around 10 Canadian companies. "It is not just about offering UK buyers Canadian timber-frame systems," says Palmer. "It is about offering solutions and components that work together." The collaboration follows the success of a similar package deal of Canadian manufacturing partners selling homes in Japan under one brand name. In fact the whole Zethus project was inspired by the way the Japanese sell homes, where buyers visit a centre with different types of dwellings on display.
A Japanese steel-frame system is being considered for inclusion in the village, as is Swedish timber frame. Once eight homes have been built Palmer will review what other types of housing should be brought to Zethus. "We need to make sure we get the product mix right," he says.
Test rig 1: Tek Haus Kingspan
Builder: Robert Woodhead
Cladding: Permarock, Cape
SIPs: Tek Haus, Kingspan Insulation
Doors, windows and internal joinery: Arnold Laver
Mechanical ventilation heat recovery system: Baxi
Off-mains sewerage and rainwater collection systems: Kingspan Environmental
Test rig 2: Amphion Tee-U-Tec
Timber components: Tee-U-Tec, Beazer Partnerships
System assembly: Beazer Partnerships
Groundworks: O’Hallorahans
Electrics: BMS Electricals
Plumbing: Stephen Jefferies Plumbing
Windows: Howarth Windows
Architect: Calford Seaden
Test rig 3: Celcon/Bovis
Celcon is partnering with Bovis to build a three-storey, three-bed house that demonstrates two build technologies: large block and thin-joint masonry for the walls, and Celcon’s Jamera system of concrete elements for the floors, roof and stairs. Funding for the project is being provided by a Partners in Innovation grant and the NHBC. Over a traditional brick exterior, Celcon will also be using spray-on finishes and cladding systems. But it does not want to alienate visitors with anything too experimental. “It’s important to make it look buildable,” says Celcon’s technical director Cliff Fudge. The interior will be left bare so visitors can see the blockwork and understand how the elements fit together. An open plan layout will allow Bovis to test new products such as central heating and wiring during the lifetime of the home. “The house will demonstrate a combination of masonry techniques with prefabricated systems such as the factory-built dormer windows,” says Fudge, who is hoping that the centre will give Jamera widespread exposure. “What attracted us to Zethus is the conference centre which will draw in housing professionals and the fact that as a core member we have a permanent exhibition,” he says.Source
Building Homes