Spaceover - SPACEOVER LAUNCHES FIRST HOUSE AT OFF-SITE 2007
Two Bed House On Display Is Ready To Live In And Part Of
Live Project
Spaceover, the rapidly expanding off-site apartment
builder, will be showcasing its first house at the BRE
Off-Site 2007 exhibition.The two-bed house that will be
on show at Off-Site 2007 meets all Government standards
set for 2016 and will become part of a live housing
project being completed by Spaceover in Harlow, where it
will be erected after the show.
Said Spaceover director Steve Barrett: “Unlike the other
building projects demonstrated at the show our house is
not a concept, it is a building that has been produced
within a normal budget, is ready to live in, can be
bought today and will be ready for occupation
immediately after the show”.
A Spaceover house takes just one hour for each module to
be lifted from the delivery lorry onto its foundations.
All internal fittings, including the heating,
ventilation and bathroom are pre-fitted, and the house
modules are simply connected together and ‘plugged and
plumbed’ into the utilities. They are finished with a
choice of cladding materials.
Like all Spaceover’s apartments, the houses already
adhere to all Government regulations as far forward as
2016, are covered by the new LPS 2020:2005 Standard for
Innovative Methods of Dwelling Construction and are very
environmentally friendly with high levels of heat and
acoustic insulation. Spaceover believe they will be able
to comply with the Government’s new scheme for Carbon
Zero homes, which will be zero rated for stamp duty.
They are also considerably cheaper to run not only
because of the excellent insulation but also because of
the use of ground source heat pump technology which
offers a 60% saving on the cost of heating and hot
water.
The flexible house designs, created by London-based
architects Proctor and Matthews, can grow from two to
four bedrooms, and modules can even be removed at a
later date. They are the first non-apartment homes that
Spaceover has produced.
Spaceover’s move into producing complete houses follows
its successful development of over 100 apartment
projects including the Harlow site where it is putting
up 78 apartments and two, three and four bed houses –
making it the country’s largest modular housing
development. The first 35 homes have already been sold
to the Moat Housing Group.
The company formed just over four years ago in 2003 by
the joint managing directors: Steve Barrett and Tony
Fox, schoolboy friends who both had engineering
backgrounds and, having lost touch, met up once again
via Friends United. It is based in Faygate, West Sussex.
Added Steve Barrett: “All the Government research shows
there is a pressing need for affordable homes
particularly near the city centres where key workers and
those starting out on the housing ladder are employed.
“Our innovative off-site construction system SBS © not
only guarantees the high quality of every unit but makes
building possible in small site that could not otherwise
have been developed, a factor which is now being
appreciated by more and more housing associations,
trusts and developers who are working with us to give
their customers quality homes in city locations”.
A key element of all Spaceover homes is that with LPS
2020 certification they are all fully mortgageable and
insurable. Spaceover were the first company to be
awarded LPS 2020, at Interbuild in April 2007. This
standard has been developed with support from the
Association of British Insurers (ABI), the Council of
Mortgage Lenders (CML), to allow the assessment of
innovative building systems that have yet to gain a
performance track record in the UK.
Another important factor, given the requirement for new
homes in the future is that the sort of modern methods
of construction (MMC) used by Spacover address the
current lack of skilled labour, as well as making
considerably better use of materials, thus reducing the
carbon footprint of any development, as well as
disruption for neighbours.
Developments are finished up to 60% quicker than with
standard building methods, costs are reduced by 5-15%,
there is around 10% less wastage, the site is around 100
time safer than traditional construction, and fixed
price contracts are agreed up-front against definitive
specifications with the end user or development team.
Email:
john@presslinkgroup.co.uk
Arundel Jones Associates Ltd
Hill Farm, Linton Hill, Maidstone, Kent ME17 4AL
Tel : 01622 745333
news@buildingdesign.co.uk
Registered in England and Wales No. 07334149
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