POSITIVE FORCES AT PLAY DESPITE THE PANDEMIC
Light Steel Frame Association (LSFA) members have reported healthy pipelines which cannot just be attributed to the impact of the pandemic as the construction industry turns to offsite factory technology to mitigate on site risks.
No doubt Covid accelerated the transition from traditional site-based approaches to modern methods of construction which benefit from having fewer people on site and a more factory-controlled environment.
LSFA members believe there are other forces at work such as the government-led drive towards modern methods of construction (MMC) to achieve sustainability gains and the fear of a Brexit-driven skills exodus. Another factor is the introduction of new fire regulations which have put severe limitations on not only constructing in structural timber but also have wide-ranging insurance and liability implications.
“The pandemic has perversely been quite good for us. We have seen an uptick in people moving away from timber, even the two and three-storey housing market,” says Ryan Simmonds,
Sigmat’s Pre-contracts Director.
Sigmat has delivered huge amounts of student accommodation – over 30,000 rooms in 24 locations but works across many other sectors. Its current schemes include a five-star hotel, a luxury bungalow scheme, a 10-storey mixed-use building in Nottingham and a retirement home in Hexham, Northumberland.
Residential is the main market for Intelligent Steel Solutions, which manufactures 2D panels, some of which go on to volumetric suppliers to be turned into 3D modular structures. It also supplies panels for custodial, military, healthcare, education and hotels.
Intelligent Steel Solutions is investing to improve its design efficiency further. “We work with
Tekla, a 3D modelling system,” says Nigel Storey, Managing Director of Intelligent Steel. “We are investing £100,000 this year to be able to run a smart system that has a degree of intelligence. So, for instance when you put a door in you do not have to detail every individual element – the system does it for you.”
Intelligent Steel Solutions sister company Henley Homes has reported a doubling in turnover during the Covid-19 period.
