Five years ago three HA's - Hyde, Hastoe and Amicus - came to a decision, based on this feedback, that things had to change. A depressing trend was becoming evident. The homes they were constructing using traditional methods were:
- becoming more expensive,
- of unpredictable quality, and
- resulting in high levels of site wastage.
In short, it seemed to the trio that new housing provision was becoming unsustainable.
The Department of the Environment, Transport and the Regions was approached to lend its support to the initiative, as it seemed to meet a number of its objectives in terms of sustainability, waste-reduction, off-site production, etc.
A Partners In Innovation (Pii) bid was prepared and awarded to innovation consultant The Palmer Partnership in July 1998. This enabled three initiatives:
- development of a client club to generate the volume required for manufacturing, named Amphion (after the king of Thebes of Greek mythology who played the lyre so well that the walls of Thebes "built themselves", although the word also stands for Advanced manufacturing and procurement for housing innovation);
- development of a UK customer centre and showhome village that could be used as a centre of excellence for research, education and training in housing systems, named the Zethus Centre (after Amphion's brother, Zethus the mason, and seeker of knowledge); and
- targeted dissemination activity of workshops and seminars to motivate and encourage others into off-site manufacture and use of housing systems.
The three HAs formed the nucleus of the Amphion Consortium, which now has 17 more HA members, as well as a manufacturing partner in Beazer. Consortium members commit their new build schemes to the Amphion route.
The consortium approach provides the volume and continuity of production that is needed to allow innovation to be pursued and economies and efficiencies achieved.
The consortium's relationship with Beazer is Egan-style partnering - the consortium is partnering collectively with Beazer and individually on a project-by-project basis.
The target now is to develop 2000 timber frame homes over the next four years, applying the Egan principles of factory production and partnering to achieve efficiency, economy and quality.
All the homes are being manufactured and erected by Beazer, which has developed a new factory, TorwoodM2 in Ipswich, a new timber frame system Tee-U-Tec to meet demand, and has pledged to continuously improve its product under its partnering arrangement with the consortium. Seventeen Amphion sites are now in the pipeline, with designs by three architects: PCKO Architects, Calford Seaden Partnership, and PRP Architects.
Zethus, the centre for homebuilding research is under construction at the Dartford campus of the University of Greenwich. The centre, which is a joint venture of the University and The Palmer Partnership, will be a focus for the research activities of Amphion as well as others in private and social sectors of the homebuilding industry. A feature of the centre will be the Global Village, a permanent show village of homes from around the world.
Why timber frame?
Amphion's alliance with timber frame began when the three founder HAs approached The Palmer Partnership and the Building Research Establishment (BRE) to research its potential. At that time timber frame was in the doldrums: UK market share for housing was around 6% with a miserable 1% in England and Wales. A plan was prepared to educate clients, review technologies and systems, develop designs, select an approach and identify partners and involve others. Timber seemed to offer the following benefits:
- strong environmental footprint;
- net contributor to CO2 reduction;
- large manufacturing capacity in the marketplace;
- good UK infrastructure for production (over 70 firms); and
- large UK timber reserves available.
Having concluded timber was a suitable material, the next step was to select a suitable framing approach. The potential of UK manufacturers was explored, looking at systems ranging from platform frame to 'whole-room' production. Visits to Finland, Sweden and Japan followed.
The Finnish visit took in a range of systems from stick-built (site-constructed) timber frame to closed panel systems. In Sweden, we saw the Myresjöhus production facility in Vetlanda which produces the Ikea Bo-Kloc housing system.
Japan offered a range of technologies, and use of housing systems on a grand scale. Timber platform frame, steel frame, and steel/concrete composites are all used alongside more traditional pre-cut timber post and beam systems. There, more than 300 000 detached homes and apartments are constructed using systems each year - and the figure is growing.
The real surprise from the Japanese market was their focus on the consumer. This was evident in two areas: their marketing approach and their support for innovation via their research & development activities.
Japan's homebuilding industry provided a clear idea of what was achievable using housing systems. We were also particularly taken with the customer centres and show villages. We knew they would be appropriate for selling in the UK but felt we could explore their use in terms of education of clients and consumers and training operatives in system use.
Lessons from the research showed that:
- housing systems are mainstream in other developed countries;
- the basic platform frame used in the UK is not the only system available;
- moving more of the structural package off-site seemed to simplify construction and eliminate site-generated waste;
- prefabricating floors had a dramatic impact on construction time;
- clear-span floors could be used to meet lifetime home requirements of flexibility and adaptability;
- prefabricated roof panels could be used to turn dead roof space into useable accommodation; and
- timber seemed to address the needs of a more sustainable construction process.
The conclusions were:
- the product clients wanted was not available in the UK market;
- a large and consistent volume of production was needed to encourage new manufacturing; and
- a dissemination vehicle would be needed to motivate others to get involved in the innovation and change process.
With the arrival on site last month of the first Tee-U-Tec panels for the first Amphion homes at Hyde HA's Childers Street site in Deptford, south east London, and construction in progress on the Zethus Centre in nearby Dartford, the agents for change in the UK homebuilding industry are now in place.
Amphion's innovation in design
Customer focus the Japanese way
Japan invests heavily in innovation. This is evident on the public side where there are over 80 national research institutes and 181 regional technology centres. Investment by private firms is also impressive. A big-six contractor will typically invest around 0.5% of turnover on R&D producing an investment of around £100m - just for these firms. The equivalent UK figure would be under £1 m. Each firm has its own research facility that typically requires a £40m investment. New product development is a long-term investment, with 10-year plans to market not uncommon for a new housing system costing literally tens of millions of pounds. R&D is seen as the lifeblood of companies, motivating staff and providing comfort to consumers and provides the backbone to marketing strategies. Marketing through show villages and centres
Land in Japan is an extremely scare commodity. Virtually all development is recycled plots for individual home owners. This contrasts starkly with the UK housing market, which is land rather than product led. This provides the Japanese contractor with a requirement for close links with the consumer and in turn, a clear understanding of their needs. While in the UK homes are primarily sold through sales centres on site, the Japanese use alternative approaches:
- the show village. Normally linked to other consumer shopping activities like retail parks, these villages allow the consumer to experience homes from competing homebuilders. Villages range from 10 units to 75 units. There are more than 800 villages in Japan and a major homebuilder might typically exhibit on 400-500 sites; and
- to draw consumers to individual “brands” in the market, major homebuilders have developed “lifestyle centres” , or “comprehensive housing R&D institutes” within their main offices. These typically house R&D activities, but also include displays to raise consumer awareness of the challenges in their housing environment (such as safety, performance and environmental impact) and demonstrate how the companies’ homes respond to these challenges. Centres attract large numbers of visitors, and around 20% of them become buyers.
Source
Building Homes
