SIPS design lessons
Tonia Williams is a former world champion lightweight rower. She says her sporting background helps her as an architect.
“I know some builders take shortcuts with construction, but in sport, there are no shortcuts. You have to put in the training hours. If there are shortcuts, it’s usually called cheating.”
After hanging up her oars from international competition in 1996, she spent several years working as an architect in the UK. She returned to NZ in the middle of the leaky house crisis and vowed she would not design with timber framing.
Her first SIPS house design was her own Auckland home. It helped her understand how certain design decisions can add to the cost of a build.
She says there is a shortage of builders who are familiar with SIPS, and the industry doesn’t encourage new construction methods. The building materials supply chain is controlled by big companies with a vested interest in retaining the status quo. SIPS are considered "disruptive".
“SIPS are pretty intuitive to use, but there is a learning curve.”
There are several SIPS suppliers in New Zealand, and some offer training courses for builders.
Pamela Bell is another SIPS fan. She is the CEO of non-profit organisation Prefabnz. She is also a former professional athlete who represented NZ at the 1998 Nagano Winter Olympic Games in the giant slalom snowboarding.
She says SIPS are gaining in popularity, particularly in colder regions such as Christchurch and Central Otago.
“A SIPS house which is under construction and isn’t even closed-in, is noticeably warmer than the outside environment."
There used to be a stigma associated with prefabricated design. That was partly thanks to cold, prefab buildings in schools, but she says New Zealanders are becoming more open to the method.
Prefabs come in many forms: SIPS; three-dimensional volumes/modules; a hybrid of several systems; or complete prefab buildings (transportable box design).
“There are huge advantages to all forms of prefabricated design," says Pamela. "Increased quality, reduced time, improved sustainability, reduced disruption at the building site, and a healthier, cleaner, safer site.
“The main customer benefits are reduced construction time and ‘known’ costs.”
Prefabnz has ambitious goals, wanting to greatly increase the number of homes built using prefabricated design by 2020.
The Ministry of Business, Innovation and Employment is currently assessing the skills shortage in the prefab construction industry.