Risk of UK’s offsite manufacturing sector being overtaken by overseas firms Posted on: July 1st, 2019 The Head of Sustainable Futures at architecture practice HTA Design has warned the UK’s offsite manufacturing sector could be overtaken by firms in Asia due to a swathe of investment by Asian government’s in the new technology. Rory Bergin, Partner at HTA said: “What’s been interesting to us from the past few years is the interest in our skills from international clients such as people in Singapore and Hong Kong. The Hong Kong and Singapore governments are now mandating the use of offsite in construction. So suddenly they have vast industries that will be able to tool up and they will be able to supply the UK market. We buy everything else from Asia so why not buy homes from Asia. [emaillocker id=”71749″] “I’d rather not see that happening, but I can see that because of the investment into manufacturing in Asia, led by their governments I can see a future where our industries here cannot compete. If we wait too long other countries will get there before us.” HTA are currently working on the 44-storey modular tower in Croydon which, when complete will be the tallest modular building in the UK. Speaking about the new scheme Mr Bergin said: “[The tower] is going to be built at least a year quicker than traditional construction and is based on standardised rooms, standardised construction and is being built at the rate of a floor per week, with all kitchens and bathrooms finished. We will deal with 80% less deliveries to site compared to a construction project on the same scale. First, they [the client] don’t believe you, then you take them to a site and they do believe you. “How that model works, once people do it once they are eager to do it again. Contrast that with traditional contracting no-one speaks to each other for at least six months as we are arguing over fees or claims, and it’s two years before we work together again. With a manufacturing attitude we are working on serial projects and have started the next one before we’ve finished the current one. It’s a completely different attitude.” Mr Bergin added that some groups are beginning to come together to collaborate on designs. He added: “There are a few initiatives happening where different groups are coming together to aggregate demand. Manchester City Council have setup a team to aggregate demand, and so have the National Housing Federation (NHF). Many developers say “we’re doing something special” but when you compare them all they are all pretty much the same. The long-held belief that each of us must do something slightly different for everyone to succeed isn’t the case. “We can all build things which are quite similar, quite alike we can share technologies and components and allow these factories to grow.” He was speaking at the Offsite Manufacture Conference. Click here for more info > [/emaillocker]
