Big SIPs
Contractor Geoffrey Osborne used Vencel Resil's Structural Insulated Panels (SIPs) for the first time on three homes of a 14-house development in Sompting near Worthing for Southern Housing Group. The remaining 11 homes are timber frame.

Simply put, SIPs are an expanded polystyrene filling in an oriented strand board (OSB) sandwich.

It took nine days to build the houses, which Osborne says is faster than timber frame construction. SIPs also score well on thermal and acoustic performance, providing 10% more than is currently required by building regulations on sound transmission and a U value of 0.23W/m2K.

BRE and the Timber Research and Development Association (TRADA) monitored the construction along with Building Lifeplans which is providing the 12 year structural and component warranty.
Enquiry number 203

Schools for sale
Yorkon has introduced operating lease finance for schools built using offsite after South Lanarkshire Council took up this option for the £5m Our Lady of Lourdes School in East Kilbride. This sees a funding bank buy the school with the local authority paying rent for a 20-year period. Local government finance regulations mean that this is an option for modular buildings but not for bricks and mortar.

Yorkon constructed the 500-pupil primary school from 84 steel framed modules up to 14m long and weighing up to 8.5 tonnes which were fitted out once in place on site. The contractor assembled the new 16-classroom building next door to the existing school which was later demolished and replaced with a sports pitch and landscaping.

Yorkon was on site for eight months. South Lanarkshire estimated that this was half the time required for a traditionally built school.
Enquiry number 206

Kingspan rules for warnings MoD job

Contractor Warings constructed 11 buildings in Lark Hill, Salisbury for the Ministry of Defence using Kingspan modular units. The blocks, for the Royal School of Artillery at the Horne and Roberts Barracks comprised three buildings for 70 ensuite bedrooms, a mess, offices, two stores, a rest room, a training centre and two shower blocks. The 166 modules were delivered in kit form to Pyramid Building Systems who assembled the units and fitted them out. Kingspan’s Capella roof truss system clad with its composite rooftile panels finished off the buildings.
Enquiry number 204

Modish pads for grads

This is Modar’s 32 sq m unit, which it has designed for city apartments to house graduates and young professionals. The new Modar system comprises a range of modules, two of which make up the graduate unit. Add a third module and it becomes a 48.1 sq m one-bedroom flat. Four make a 64.6 sq m two-bedroom flat. Modar is a partnership between Design Group 3 Architects and manufacturer Pyramid Building Systems. The system has yet to be used on any jobs but a spokesman for the firm said that it was preparing 30 proposals for sites around the UK following its official launch in April this year.
Enquiry number 205

Source

Construction Manager

Postscript

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