23 Storey Modular Residential Scheme in Greenwich

Essential Living, a developer and operator of homes for rent, has called upon Elements Europe to provide a modular solution for its award-winning Creekside Wharf scheme in Greenwich.

Elements Europe will manufacture and deliver 653 Modules to the site in London at a rate of up to 20 a week from February 2017.

Essential Living has already started on site. Elements Europe’s modules will be installed around the scheme’s concrete core.

Elements Europe’s systems will halve the time spent on site to 32 weeks meaning that Essential Living can bring forward much-needed homes for rent far more quickly than if they had used solely on site techniques.

Off-site construction brings a number of benefits for build to rent developer-operators, giving them the chance to earn rental income sooner, reduce energy bills and refurbish the buildings more easily which is crucial as they’ll be holding the asset for years.

The prototype module that Elements put together will be one of the last fitted to Creekside Wharf, underlining the commitment to sustainable development.

At 23 storeys tall, Creekside Wharf will also be one of the tallest modular buildings in the UK.

Elements Europe is accredited by the Build Offsite Property Assurance Scheme, a linkup between Lloyd’s, BLP, Buildoffsite and RICS, which ensures their product is mortgageable for two terms. This essentially acts as a warranty wrapper, lasting for more than 50 years, giving mortgage lenders confidence.

Creekside Wharf is the UK’s first housing scheme with a dedicated family block. Elements Europe will deliver for resident’s wider corridors, buggy storage, greater acoustic insulation and a ground floor nursery.

Martin Bellinger, chief operating officer at Essential Living, commented “We’re pleased to be able to appoint Elements Europe, veterans of the modular world, on what promises to be an innovative scheme in Greenwich. Having the potential to collect rent six months earlier, than a traditional build, is appealing. This is achievable because you can commence work on the modules off-site at the same time as constructing the traditional concrete core on-site which the steel-framed modules then plug into.”

Simon Underwood, Managing Director at Elements Europe, said “Elements Europe is delighted to have been appointed by Essential Living to deliver Creekside Wharf. We have developed an industry-leading solution for Essential Living and the build to rent sector bringing together many years of experience.

“Modular solutions have been used for many years throughout the hotel and student accommodation sectors and our entry into the build to rent market is just a natural progression, bringing homes forward sooner, reduced capital construction costs, improved quality and safety of delivery.” Underwood added.

Image courtesy of Essential Living / Assael Architects.

Shortlisted for Construction Enquirer Award

Elements Europe is delighted to be shortlisted in the Construction Enquirer Awards, going up against 9 others in a bid to win Best Specialist Contractor to Work For (£5m to £25m).

The winners of the 12 categories will be announced at an awards evening to be held during UK Construction Week on the 18th October.

Kevin Arthur, Director at Elements Europe commented “We are delighted to be shortlisted for this award, voted for by our employees as well as suppliers, professional teams and consultants. We look forward to attending the awards evening in October to hear the results.”

This is the third award Elements Europe has been shortlisted for in the last week, with the shortlist being made for the Offsite Construction Awards in the categories of Best Use of Volumetric Technology and  Best Use of MEP Prefabrication.

Shortlisted for Two Industry Awards

Elements Europe has been shortlisted in the Offsite Awards for Best Use of Volumetric Technology and Best Use of MEP.

The awards are being hosted by Offsite Magazine, a Radar Communications publication, who has seen a huge amount of entries to all 11 categories that encompass all off-site aspects.

Elements Europe submitted a detailed focus report for each entry on a project that was appropriate for the specific category. Both submissions were entered focused on its off-site building solution for Berkeley Homes, on its Read our case study project in Bath’s city centre.

For both entries Elements Europe had to detail the reasons why volumetric technology was used and how MEP was used in the project, how the project provided a unique construction solution vs a traditional on-site building approach, how volumetric technology and its MEP provided a major element in the delivery of the final project, how a factory based design contributed to its success and also provide five reasons why the use of volumetric technology and the use of its MEP on the project will be seen as a future exemplar to others.

Kevin Arthur, Director at Elements Europe commented “We jumped at the chance to enter our Bath project into these categories and be a part of the Offsite Awards.”

“We are all very proud to have been a part of this iconic project in Bath working alongside Berkeley Homes. We are all keeping our fingers crossed that we win an award in recognition.” 

The shortlisted submissions will now be looked at in detail by a panel of industry experts to draw a winner for each category.

Elements Europe’s team will be joining the rest of the shortlisted companies at a drinks and canapes evening on the 18th October in Birmingham to hear the winners announced.

 

Elements Europe gets the Green Light to build up to 24 Storeys in Modular

Elements Europe has secured BOPAS accreditation to build up to 24 storeys with its modular solutions.

BOPAS provides assurance to the lending community that innovatively constructed properties against which they may be lending, will deliver consistent performance over a determined durability of 60 years.

Over the past 11 years Elements Europe has delivered over 10,000 units of offsite accommodation to a wide variety of sectors including, student accommodation and hotels. As a result of increasing demand from developers, especially in the rapidly growing PRS market Elements Europe has progressed their capability and now offer a fully BOPAS  accredited solution enabling them to build up to 24 storeys.

“At Elements Europe we continue to strive towards the best possible solution for our clients ensuring that we offer them the highest standards possible” Commented Simon Underwood Managing Director at Elements Europe.

“The BOPAS accreditation is an extremely prestigious and demanding process but we were confident that our systems and processes would meet the exceptionally high standards. In recent months we have seen an increasing demand for high rise schemes looking to use modular solutions. Our clients demand high quality, faster build programs, and cost certainty. We have the capacity and capability to deliver in a better way than traditional construction.” Added Underwood.

The accreditation will permit Elements Europe to deliver modular solutions to an even greater range of projects going forward enabling further flexibility.

Image Provided by Jefferson Sheard Architects

First Bathroom Pods Delivered to South Bromley

Elements Europe is delivering its modular accommodation solution to another Premier Inn. The first Bathroom Pods left the factory this week bound for South London.

The hotel is being constructed by McLaren Construction and is part of the Bromley South Central Regeneration Scheme, a scheme which will see £90 million invested in the area to provide a mixed-use scheme including restaurant, retail and residential accommodation.

The hotel development will see Elements Europe manufacture, deliver and install 131 Bathroom Pods to the scheme. The deliveries will be carried out in line with McLaren’s construction programme to ensure deliveries arrive just in time for installation.

The Bathroom Pods have been designed in line with Premier Inn’s latest bathroom specification, ID4.

Phil Hughes, Transport Manager commented, “We will be liaising with McLaren Construction on a daily basis to ensure that the modules are arriving on time and in the exact order required to ensure an efficient installation of Bathroom Pods.”

Modular accommodation is increasingly popular with the hotel industry due to its fast and efficient programme which sees a far greater return on investment for its investors.

A greater amount of clients now see the benefits of off-site construction with rooms being constructed in a factory environment and delivered to site complete.

A hotel brand such as Premier Inn seeks consistency to ensure its brand remains strong with guests and is the same across the country. This is a task easily achieved in a factory on a production line with specific trades repetitively completing each project to the exact specification.

This repetitiveness makes for a more controlled completion with a quicker fit out process as well as a much higher quality finish reducing the number of snagging issues.

Elements Europe Hosts Family Fun Day

Elements Europe hosted a family fun day for all members of staff and their families last Saturday.

The event which was held within the grounds of the manufacturing plant in Telford featured a children’s play area and a BBQ.

Families were also invited to take a tour of the factory allowing them insight into modular manufacturing.

“The event was really well attended and everyone enjoyed themselves. It was an opportunity for the team to show their families where they work and to socialise together” Comment Nick Davies Productions Manager at Elements Europe.

Elements Europe Assists Cambridge University in Industrial Review

Elements Europe hosted a group visit from the University of Cambridge as part of an Industrial Review into the sector which the University and their partners are calling ‘Construction as Manufacturing (CaM)’.

The industrial review is aimed at exploring current practice, challenges and issues of CaM, which includes off-site production, upstream/downstream logistics, design for production and construction, and on-site production.

Elements Europe has been selected together with a number of international and UK based companies to take part in the review.

During their visit hosted by Managing Director Simon Underwood, design solutions and logistics, and production sequences were demonstrated. The group also discussed in detail the growing market in off-site construction and its influences.

Simon Underwood, commented “We were pleased to offer the University of Cambridge an insight into our Production Facility in Telford. Their review is engaging a wide range of stakeholders who are driving the way forward in off-site construction.”

“We look forward to continuing to work with the University of Cambridge and other organisations in the development of the industry” Underwood added.

The insight that Elements Europe has given will, together with other UK companies in the sector go towards a significant industry review.

Dr Tariq Masood, Senior Research Associate from the University of Cambridge commented “It was a pleasure to visit Elements Europe at its production facility. The visit was of considerable use to us in our industrial review. We witnessed first-hand the off-site approach to construction and the processes which result in higher levels of quality, increased speed of construction and more certainty in delivery.”

“Elements Europe has gained substantial learning and clearly invested considerably over the past 10 years of business in which they have delivered over 10,000 units of offsite fabrication.” He added.

Room Module Manufacture Starts for Iconic Plymouth Student Scheme

Elements Europe has commenced manufacture of Room Modules for a brand new student accommodation scheme in Plymouth’s city centre.

The development which is being constructed by Elements Europe’s sister company Pickstock Construction is set to enhance Plymouth’s skyline and meet a much-needed demand for student accommodation in the city.

Elements Europe will install Room Modules into Block A, a 13-storey building, and Bathroom Pods into Block B, a 10-storey high building.

For Block A, Elements Europe will manufacture Room Modules and kitchen modules. Selected modules will be manufactured as split modules and the Room Module system has been developed to incorporate a corridor built in rather than corridor cassettes being manufactured separately.

Mark Jowett, Head of Design for Elements Europe commented “We modularised the building to get the very best efficiently on the factory floor and at install stage. By manufacturing split modules and modules with corridors incorporated means we can gain further efficiencies in our processes.”

Block B will be built traditionally as a concrete frame with Elements Europe manufacturing and installing 60 Bathroom Pods for this block.

Kevin Arthur, Director at Elements Europe commented: “Our steel frame systems are perfect for multi-storey buildings such as this, and is where modular construction really comes into its own, delivering speed and efficiency.”

“We are delighted to be collaborating with our sister company Pickstock Construction yet again to deliver another student accommodation scheme.” Arthur added.

The accommodation is set to open in time for the September 2017 intake of students with Mears Group being the student operators.

Elements Europe will again work with Jefferson Sheard’s professional team to deliver this scheme.

Mike Hall, Regional Director and Project Architect for Jefferson Sheard commented: “We are very pleased to have designed this exciting mixed-use scheme as part of the ongoing positive regeneration of Plymouth.”

“We’ve produced a high-quality design solution to a challenging constrained site whilst working closely with Pickstock Construction and Elements Europe to utilise innovative modular construction techniques as part of the build solution.  We look forward to seeing the works progress on site and becoming a dramatic part pf the Plymouth skyline.” Hall added.

It is noted that Plymouth lacks sufficient purpose built student accommodation in comparison to other major university cities. Plymouth is home to approximately 26,000 students, however there are less than 4,000 beds provided by purpose-built student schemes in the city.

Royal Arsenal Hotel Receives its First Room Modules

120 of our Room Modules have been manufactured for Berkeley Homes, and delivery has started to their destination in East London.

The Royal Arsenal Hotel is a Premier Inn hotel development within Berkeley Homes’ Riverside project in Woolwich.

Berkeley Homes selected Elements Europe to deliver an off-site solution to the scheme so to bring an expedited programme of works to this part of its development.

The Room Modules have been designed and manufactured to Premier Inn’s latest ID4 standard and stair cores, linen rooms, as well as flat roof cassettes and an off-site plant area have also been manufactured.

Modules will be delivered by Elements Europe’s own fleet of vehicles, with a delivery every day to achieve a seamless just-in-time installation programme.