￡40K Pre-Fab house for Elderly Living
At the core of our recent retirement community masterplan for the National Custom and Self Build Association was the design of a pre-fabricated single dwelling built for under ￡40K. The unit design was fully costed with a comprehensive elemental cost plan developed alongside MESH cost consultants.
The homes would be individually procured by the homeowner choosing from a catalogue of layout options. The home would then be factory fabricated off-site, with finishing work applied on site that can be adapted to the specifics of the site and owner.
The basic layout option can be personalised by repositioning the 4 key zones of the house. The kitchen and bathroom are delivered as pods and can be positioned in any orientation. Lifetime Homes standards are attained with all layout options.
Off-Site Strategy
In order to take advantage of the benefits in costs and quality offered by factory construction, the proposal utilises off-site manufacture of both the bathroom and kitchenette pods. These come fully tiled and plumbed with all fittings installed. They are sized appropriately so they can be simply delivered to site when required on the back of a standard low-loader lorry with no special legal permissions required from the highways authority or police.
The arrangement of the pods minimises services connections, and this is further enhanced by the arrangement of the houses on our proposed site plan. By clustering the units along an informal street pattern, and housing all the wet services on the front elevation, we are able to minimise waste and service connections of the facing properties.
The open and flexible living and bedroom areas would then be quickly constructed to adjoin these pods, using insulated formwork panels, pre-cut to the precise sizes required, with all openings and penetrations already in place. The core units and living areas would be unified with the application of a Sip Crete structural spray finish.
Sip Crete
Our modern construction technique of sprayed concrete on an unbroken insulated formwork wall has many advantages over traditional construction and other off-site building methods. The insulated panels work perfectly with the required layout options, using standard sized panels throughout to create a 2.5m high shell wall.
The system allows for the same technique to be used to create a flat roof, which we have utilised over the bedroom and bathroom zones; the customer may choose to purchase an upgrade option to use this as a roof terrace accessed from an external stair.
Streamlining Delivery
Our proposal for delivering a new model of high-quality low-cost co-housing maximises value for the residents. The resulting properties offer the opportunity for unique homes that all meet Lifetime Home standards and achieve excellent environmental performance with flexible, light-filled layouts.
The design strategy allows for the cost benefits of standardisation while allowing an owner to adapt the appearance of their house to create a unique home with a sense of ownership within the community.
Access Adviser at Edna Jacobson Access Adviser
6 年In your article you state that the layout options can be personalised.? Can the layout be made larger if so required or do the 4 compartments come at a standard size?? Can they also be placed as a 'one off' on a site?? Does that make them more expensive?? The Lifetime Homes Standards are a great asset and it looks much nicer than standard 'sheltered accommodation' internally.