Prefabricated homes - what are the advantages?
IDEAL HOME’S RESIDENT ARCHITECTURAL DESIGNER CHARLIE LUXTON SHARES HIS DESIGN KNOW-HOW
Prefab homes have been on a journey of redemption. After decades of being seen as a damp, low-cost, low-quality, post-war housing solution, these Cinderellas of the housing industry are now considered the future. As always, the truth is more complicated.
Post-war prefabs were actually very successful: warm, well designed and loved by their residents. They provided an intelligent, rapid response to the acute housing crisis created by World War II. Their reputations were tarnished because they were generally designed to last 20-30 years. This was often extended by decades, with many becoming tired and damp before they were replaced. The idea that we can use this approach again to help in our current housing and environmental crisis is certainly appealing.
Prefabricated housing is a broad term covering everything from a kit of pre-cut timbers with instructions that require erection on site to fully built homes craned into place with bathrooms and kitchens installed. The phrase ‘modern methods of construction’, or MMC, is often used to cover the advantages and efficiencies of processing elements or the whole house in a factory.
The efficiencies and economies of a production line are huge; whole buildings constructed by a team over a few days in a vast shed, then broken into elements, loaded onto lorries and whisked to site is a thing to behold. It means that the structure and insulation remain dry, avoiding issues with damp insulation and moisture in newly built houses. It also massively reduces waste – about 8-10% of materials on a typical building site end up in a skip! Working in a factory allows for ‘nesting’ computer programs to work out the most efficient way to cut and use materials from standard sizes to minimise waste. And materials are rarely left over on a production line. They simply go into the next building, rather than into the bin.
There are significant issues with build quality on many traditional construction sites. Building in a warm, dry factory allows for better workmanship and supervision and reduces time lost to inclement weather. It also opens opportunities for people to join the industry. Unsurprisingly, months spent outside in freezing temperatures is not the best advert for a career in construction! Working in a more controlled environment could, for example, bring more women into the sector, which would be very welcome. There are also benefits for transport, as getting workers to and from site is often one of the larger components of carbon emissions associated with a project. Construction is responsible for hundreds of thousands of van miles each year in this country alone. If a workforce can live near a house-building factory, then travel miles can be reduced to short daily commutes and the delivery lorries taking the buildings to site.
One of the criticisms of prefab has been that the designs are standardised to allow for the economies of scale and the benefits from factory construction to be achieved. Given that no two sites are ever identical and that the variety of shapes, styles and materials of British homes has always been a joy, this is a reasonable concern. However the MMC sector is receiving heavy investment and evolving fast with many different ideas and solutions to allow for greater customisation and choice while keeping its inherent benefits.
Homes built with less waste should be cheaper. Homes with better build standards should be more efficient and constructed with less impact on the planet. So cast off prejudices and embrace the revolution.