The Future of Offsite Construction?

UK-based digital construction firm uses software platform to design, manufacture and deliver offsite constructed housing, but, it doesn’t own a factory.

They’re called Modulous, and by leveraging generative design alongside 5D Building Information Modelling (BIM), developers, contractors and housing associations it’s said can drastically reduce the time and cost overruns associated with conventional construction.

Combining technology with a forward-thinking logistics platform will help accelerate the delivery of much-needed housing across the UK and respond to the UK Government’s review of construction from 2016 by prefabrication visionary, Mark Farmer, which said the industry needed to “modernise or die”.

Modulous – established in 2018 by industry-leading engineers, designers and technological developers – has developed technology that provides end-to-end project management at scale.
It does this by digitising the design, procurement and logistics of a project and by using a ‘kit of parts’ that are manufactured along production lines in local factories that can be deployed on any site across the UK to form high-quality, energy-efficient housing.

The Modulous offsite construction platform also centralises the entire supply chain, drastically reducing the number of sub-contractors involved in a project. Complex supply chains and a lack of cohesion have long been a notorious cause of delays and overruns on major projects, with the setbacks costing companies up to 20% more than initial estimates according to a survey undertaken by UK based utility plan supplier, Cornerstone Projects.

As an ‘all-in-one’ solution the Modulous offsite construction platform, it’s said offers housing developers predictability throughout the detailed design and planning process without being restricted to standard typologies. Flexibility is central to the system which enables partners to customise their choice of ‘kit of parts’ – including brick slips, facades and roof pitches – to ensure schemes match local vernaculars.

In the United Kingdom, housing associations, registered providers of social housing, and government-led organisations are increasingly obligated to make new homes sustainable and cost effective by driving out physical waste. Homes England, the UK Government’s housing quango, announced last year that housing associations looking to sign deals under the new £12 billion Affordable Housing Programme will have to commit to using modern methods of construction (MMC) to deliver at least a quarter of their pipelines in a bid to improve the energy performance of social housing and champion innovation in the housebuilding sector.

Despite being formed just three years ago, Modulus has already built a pipeline worth over £250 million. They’ve recently launched a US presence as well.

Watch their PropTech Challenge pitch here:

With the ability to deliver energy-efficient homes in just a matter of weeks, rather than months, the Modulous offsite construction platform may well be primed to help tackle the dual crisis in housing and the climate in a cost-effective and timely manner.

By shrinking and integrating the supply chain, the Modulous platform is positioned so that suppliers and subcontractors are able to work towards tight deadlines and ensure that projects are delivered on, and sometimes under, budget. A smaller supply chain also makes it easier to control quality and ensure that all new homes are highly energy-efficient.

This is hugely important as the UK continues to tackle the problem of ramping up housing delivery while simultaneously reducing emissions from construction – which is responsible for 40 percent of the UK’s total.

What problems is Modulous trying to solve?

The UK’s house building industry is lacking the capacity and resources to innovate and improve productivity to reach the UK’s 300,000-new-homes-a-year target. In 2019-20, only 220,600 homes were delivered in the UK, according to official figures.

Simultaneously, policymakers are struggling to deal with the huge contributions that housing – in construction and operation – makes to UK carbon emissions. The Committee on Climate Change, an independent adviser to the Government, predicts the UK’s housing stock is responsible for 20 percent of total emissions in the UK. 

New building regulations have been introduced by the UK Government to ensure homes are ‘net-zero ready’ from 2025, but that means that homes being built between today and 2025 will require retrofitting to meet soon-to-be-introduced standards.

Modulous’ BOPAS-accredited method of delivery (which guarantees the structural integrity of a  property for 60 years) is directly helping to combat these challenges by offering a quick and low-energy solution to housing delivery.

See: www.modulous.com