Offsite keeps on giving

As the Government calls for more platform based construction solutions, James Withey, Managing Director at Algeco Offsite Solutions, examines the important role offsite has to play in the healthcare sector.

The government plans to build or renovate 40 hospitals over the next eight years, which was confirmed in the November budget and should boost workloads in the construction sector. In its Autumn Statement, the government allocated £12 billion to the Department of Health and Social Care capital budget for 2022-23 and many of these proposed hospital projects already have planning permission. 

Set against this is a record seven million people awaiting hospital treatment and so it was little surprise when the chancellor announced that health spending for NHS England will increase. 

In the 12 months to September 2022, according to Glenigan, 151 hospital projects across the UK secured planning consent. The total value of these schemes is nearly £2.5 billion, which is a rise of 37% on the total value of hospital work approved in the previous year.

 Clear benefits

The government has for a long time been looking to procure construction projects, including those in the health sector, based on product platforms comprising of standardised components and assemblies. This has been driven by a number of factors, including a need to deliver value, raising costs, project delivery certainty, financial stability of suppliers and skills shortages, amongst others. 

With a need to deliver new healthcare buildings within budgets that are now under ever greater scrutiny, NHS Trusts and building specifiers are turning to modular and offsite construction, not least because it reduces reliance on labour, so yielding greater productivity. At the same time, it offers huge advantages in terms of minimising deliveries to site and construction activity in a care setting, principally because modules can be delivered with a Pre Manufactured Value (PMV) of around 85%.

The cost benefits alone of modular and offsite make it a convincing proposition with up to 40 percent savings – mainly because the construction schedule can be cut by up to a half compared to an on-site build. Greater cost certainty in these turbulent times resonates with many public sector specifiers, whilst higher productivity and fewer defects contribute to quality builds. Waste on site is also cut by 90 percent according to WRAP (Waste and Resources Action Programme). 

 Rethinking construction 

Government procurement preference has already shifted from traditional construction methods to Modern Methods of Construction (MMC) such as offsite and modular. The work we have been doing on Seismic as part of an industry consortium demonstrates how this can happen quicker, while meeting the government’s own ‘Construction 2025’ vision of lower costs and emissions, faster delivery, and an increase in exports from the industry. 

Currently, most traditional UK construction is based on bespoke systems that are created by individual manufacturers. A lack of standardisation means different systems are incompatible, causing errors, delays, and defects in the overall project delivery.

Seismic shows how a standardised light steel frame can change the way that new healthcare buildings are designed and constructed. The system, which we are already using on a large construction project in Leeds, encompasses the production of wall, floor, ceiling, and roof components that are all completely interoperable with the standardised light steel frame. 

This approach and the benefits it delivers is similar to what the automotive industry has been doing for years – centred around streamlined production and component assembly. Ultimately, the government’s aim is to reduce construction costs and whole life costs of buildings by a third, while seeing those same buildings delivered in half the time and with a 50% reduction in carbon emissions from the sector.

In terms of sustainability, analysis shows that a standard Seismic module comprises 581.3 kg CO2e per m2, which is well below the Construction 2025 target of 1,300 kg CO2e per m2. In addition, because Seismic can be reused, either by relocating modules to other sites or by refurbishing individual components and cassettes, it adds a 234 kgCO2e per m2 clawback. This brings Seismic well beyond even the lowest stretch targets being discussed in construction today.

Embracing a digital approach is a core pillar of the approach and encompasses design, production and operation, meaning the delivery of offsite healthcare buildings will use linked data from start to finish. This approach ensures that the building delivered on site matches the design intent, performs as expected, and can be managed efficiently throughout its life.

 In order to ensure continuity of care in a healthcare setting, we can provide additional modular hire space for staff and services while new permanent offsite facilities are constructed. Our temporary modular buildings, which can be several storeys high, are suitable for GP surgeries – such as that just deployed at James Paget University Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust  in Gorleston, Great Yarmouth as a long term facility to alleviate waiting times in the A&E - health centres, hospital wards, laboratories, emergency care facilities and more. 

The way forward

It is now possible to deliver entire hospital buildings using offsite construction, although, until now, this method hasn’t been used to its full potential. Architects and specifiers now have access to everything from a single, small healthcare clinic to full turn-key health solutions, including design and planning, groundworks, installation, testing and commissioning. When based on the Seismic platform it has the potential to transform the delivery of healthcare buildings, whether it’s for an individual ward or entire hospital.

 Experience tells us that offsite construction enables whole developments to become more efficient and, crucially, can be safer, for example, due to less working at height and a shorter schedule on site.

 We believe that there are clear benefits to choosing MMC for healthcare buildings, with new innovations such as Seismic making these even more pronounced. 2023 is shaping up to be a defining year for offsite and modular construction.

To find out more about Algeco, visit: https://www.algeco.co.uk/permanent