The development is said to be first major application of pre-assembled modular structural insulated panel (SIP) construction for social housing in Scotland.
The homes were pre-assembled in the factory and transported to site as two ready-made modules per house. The trusses were then added on site allowing all properties to be wind- and water-tight in 22 days.
The bulk of the pre-fabrication work was carried out in a pop-up factory in Livingston (see below), where the homes were assembled into an entire module per floor, complete with windows, doors, finishing joinery and an undercoat of paint. These were then transported to site, where they were lifted into place by a crane.
All homes are built to achieve Silver Active Standard under Section 7 (Sustainability) of Scottish Building Standards.
Contractor was Adston Construction Group and architect was Anderson Bell Christie. The two companies are now working together on 46 homes on a second site in Duns using the same modular system.
Berwickshire Housing Association chief executive Helen Forsyth said: "With the bulk of the work conducted off-site at the Adston factory in Livingston the construction period is greatly reduced, with less disruption to nearby residents. Delays due to poor weather are largely avoided and the quality control is second to none."
Last month housing minister Brandon Lewis said that he wanted to see more prefabricated houses go up to speed the supply of 'affordable' new homes. “Offsite construction not only creates high quality, affordable homes, it also delivers them quickly,” he told the National Housing Federation's annual conference. (See previous report here.)
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