RCKa Blog

RCKa featured in Innovate Offsite Magazine

Our use of Modern Methods of Construction in residential design has featured in “Innovate Offsite” magazine, which will be available at the MTech Consult stand during EcoBuild 2010. This article continues our theme of designing site-specific, contemporary housing using innovative methods of construction we previously explored in Offsite Construction magazine, where we looked at the application of pre-fabrication to bespoke houses.
Innovate Offsite contains an invaluable directory of UK manufacturers and suppliers of MMC-related products and services, and accompanies the Offsite Online directory, now available online.

RCKa have embraced Offsite and other MMC on a number of projects, taking time to understand a range of systems which allows them to select the most appropriate for the job in hand. This research-led approach has provided them with the opportunity to employ these systems within projects which are often considered to be unlikely candidates for innovative approaches to building construction. They have also often encountered resistance to the use of new technologies; this is frequently down to a misunderstanding of what pre-fabrication really involves, coupled with concerns about appearance and longevity.
RCKa believes however, that the use of Offsite & MMC offers advantages over traditional construction methods which far outweigh any limitations. Fast construction time and accuracy of assembly are obvious benefits, but in addition, with a good understanding of the system it allows interesting architectural details to be achieved in a much more cost-effective manner compared to traditional methods.
The two examples shown on this page are winning entries for UK housing competitions both planned with Offsite in mind. The first is a design for the City Waterside development in the heart of Stoke-on-Trent. This scheme, involving the construction of some 400 new-build homes in the heart of the city, was designed to achieve Code for Sustainable Homes Level 6. Part of the environmental strategy involved the use of highly-insulated SIP panels providing both structure and envelope. The houses have large openings which look south over the landscape beyond; a clever sectional arrangement affords houses on both sides of the street the same dramatic aspect.
The second scheme is the RCKa winning entry for the Gateway goes for Guild housing competition. Set within a sensitive historic area of Preston, the use of carefully-chosen brick was an integral part of the entry for fourteen homes which responded to the surrounding context. The use of a pre-fabricated, super-insulated timber-framed panel was to help achieve Code of Sustainable Homes Level 4, through the integration of a mini district heating system, utilising an array of standard domestic boilers and solar thermal panels. A future upgrade to Level 5 will therefore be possible with only limited capital investment.
A common mistake in the use of MMC is to try to fit a particular system to a particular building style, resulting in a great deal of wastage and cost. RCKa believe that the use of a particular Offsite system should not lead the design approach; rather it must compliment it.

Tags: contemporary, MMC, modern methods of construction, panels, pre-fab, pre-fabrication, prefabrication, residential, sustainable
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