PRE-FABRICATED VOLUMETRIC UNITS

Client & Architect: Future Generations

industrial

Michael Barclay Partnership have brought their experience of the design and detailing of prefabricated steel building panels and pods to a collaboration with Future Generations, a company dedicated to making maximum use of off-site manufacture to achieve speedy site completion and high quality finishes to a wide range of building types.

Primary structural elements of the modules are of cold rolled sections made from construction grade stainless steel for durability with infill panels of light gauge galvanised steel studwork.

Floors are of lightweight concrete on profiled metal decking to enhance rigidity and also improve sound attenuation in multiple occupancy buildings. Temporary infill and/or bracing is installed across major openings to prevent racking during transportation and lifting into position. These are the critical loading conditions for structural design and MBP have also designed both the lifting points on the modules and frames to spread the lifting cables and limit potentially damaging forces under these conditions.

Although overall foundation loads are appreciably lower than for conventional buildings, it is essential that supporting structures are installed to close tolerances and provision is made for accurate location so that each module fits accurately against its neighbours. MBP have drawn particularly on their work with structural bathroom and kitchen pods as used at Beaufort Court, Lillie Road, Fulham (for the Peabody Trust) and at Lingham Court, Lambeth (for Metropolitan Housing Partnership) in defining systems and advising on pre-delivery and on-site checking procedures.

Some projects use the large module system including hotels, volume housing and further specialist bespoke buildings and extensions. Economic use of materials, minimal wastage, short timescale of disruption on and around the construction site, high levels of insulation and the potential for ultimate relocation and re-use instead of demolition and scrapping of materials add to the sustainability rating of this form of construction. The high grade of the materials used and the rigidity of the construction ensure a long design life and excellent quality of building.