Ambitious House Building Project set to Bring 4,000 Troops Home
Stewart Milne Timber Systems, the UK’s leading offsite timber frame
manufacturer, will this month begin work on a collaborative project to
relocate approximately 4,000 service personnel and their families from
Germany to Salisbury Plain in South Wiltshire.
The prestigious
house-building project is part of a £250 million contract awarded to
housing-led regeneration experts, Lovell, by the Ministry of Defence
(MOD). The project will involve the construction of over 900 homes at
three sites Ludgershall, Larkhill and Bulford by May 2020.
Stewart
Milne was selected for the project following a two-stage tender
process, with key requirements including a fast build time, high levels
of energy efficiency, scope for adaptability, and cost efficiency.
The
relocation scheme is part of the MOD’s Army Basing Programme (ABP) and
each site will include construction of six different house types, each
comprising of 3-4 bedrooms. Stewart Milne will deliver 467 of the 917
modern first-class homes across two of the three sites; Ludgershall and
Larkhill. Each home will have an energy performance improvement of 25%
over building regulations.
With a handover rate of approximately
20 homes per week, the high-volume fast-track homes project will be the
largest-ever contracting scheme for Lovell, part of the UK construction
and regeneration group Morgan Sindall Group plc.
Successful
completion of the scheme will rely on the support and skills of a
high-calibre supply chain and an accelerated construction programme.
Stewart Milne has applied its in-house design expertise to successfully
adapt its standard automated manufacturing process to align with the
specific requirements of the scheme.
Mike Perry, Sales Director
at Stewart Milne Timber Systems, said: “This is an exciting
house-building project for Salisbury Plain, and we’re very proud to be
associated with it. We have a proven method for manufacturing
high-quality, value-engineered products, consistently on time, and will
apply this to meet Lovell’s target of 20 completed homes per week.
“Typical
industry pace is delivery of one-to-two homes per week, so it’s a
stretching target, but from the outset of this project, we have all
committed to working openly and collaboratively to ensure the successful
completion of this scheme. We believe that this project will be an
exemplar for the industry. It will demonstrate what can be achieved with
an offsite manufactured timber frame solution and a collaborative
working relationship with all partners.”
Commenting on the
appointment of Stewart Milne Timber Systems, Lovell’s Major Projects
Director, John Leary, said: “Intelligent selection in supply chain
assembly is essential in a project of this magnitude. This stands
across the trades but is clearly crucial on key packages such as timber
frame. The speed of build on the SFA scheme means that timber frame and
thus an element of off-site manufacture was a given but the choice of
provider is the challenging piece.
“After an extensive
selection process considering the country’s leading providers, we
elected to partner with Stewart Milne Timber Systems. We have worked
successfully with Stewart Milne in the past and have only a positive
history. Importantly we have been entirely comfortable working together
in a very open and transparent manner, developing design solutions and
fashioning the technical and commercial package over a series of
months.
With a company of this stature and credential
exhibiting such a supportive and collaborative approach, we are
extremely confident in our ability to deliver the timber frames to
programme, across each site.”
Stewart Milne Timber Systems will
begin construction of the first timber frames for the Ludgershall site
in June 2018. Construction for the Larkhill site is planned from late
summer 2018.
For more information about Stewart Milne Timber Systems: Stewart Milne
For more information about Lovell go to: Lovell
Image credits: ‘Aerial photo of Salisbury Plains site’ - Lovell
