Space4 Designs Receive Accreditation

Edited by the Buildingtalk editorial team Nov 25, 2003

Space4, the UK's largest producer of fast-track, off-site manufactured construction systems, has received Housing Corporation Standard House Plan Accreditation for 17 of its house and apartment design

The off-site manufacturer is one of the first three companies to have received the accolade.

The Space4 internal layouts, designed by specialist social housing architectural practice Calford Seaden, have been deemed as Housing Corporation Scheme Development Standards plan compliant.

The designs have undergone assessment using Housing Quality Indicators (HQI).

This scoring system is designed to allow housing schemes to be evaluated on the basis of quality rather than simply cost.

The announcement marks another achievement for Space4's unique, patented, building system, which has accreditation from the Building Research Establishment (BRE) and the British Board of Agr?ment (BBA) Patrick Dormon, managing director, Space4 said: "From day one Space4 has striven to deliver high quality, cost effective housing and this accreditation is real recognition of our flexibility.

The Housing Corporation has acknowledged the role off-site manufacturing does and will increasingly play in building indiscernible housing for the public sector.

I am especially proud that Space4 designs have been chosen amongst the first to be accredited".

Space4, formally established in January 2001, has the capacity to produce more than 6,000 homes per year from its state of the art manufacturing facility in Castle Bromwich, Birmingham.

The company applies automotive manufacturing processes to its production of insulated structural wall panels (fitted with external doors and windows), internal load bearing walls and cassette floors for homes and apartments.

These insulation panels form the heart of the Space4 system, enabling dwellings to exceed the Government's latest Building Regulation Part L requirements with outstanding thermal performance, typically scoring a maximum 10 points against the Ecohomes building envelope measure.

The modular construction process provides the housebuilding industry with an innovative approach that reduces total construction time by up to 50%.

The Space4 construction components are assembled on-site in 1-2 working days: typically a 6-week process for masonry construction.

Once the roof is fitted - a process which takes just 30 minutes - internal fitting out and external cladding can be progressed in tandem, to form a weatherproof envelope.

"Space4 is a whole new approach to housebuilding, one which provides opportunities for a cost-efficient, quality build, which is environmentally sensitive and generates more productive use of skills on the ground," added Patrick Dormon.