The factory-built future of British construction

The introduction of the industrial production line in car manufacturing, pioneered by Henry Ford in the early 20th century, revolutionised the automotive industry and global manufacturing practices. But there is one sector that has—remarkably—failed to embrace the full potential of industrialised models of production: construction. Just look at housebuilding—while advanced manufacturing is now utilising robots and AI, in many ways homes are still being built as they were 100 years ago: with contractors laying bricks in muddy fields.

But technologies to modernise construction do exist. At Reds10 we have been pioneering them for more than a decade now, developing highly sustainable, innovative, high-quality modular buildings offsite in our dedicated factories in Driffield, East Yorkshire, for the public sector. These include amazing homes for the military, school buildings and facilities for the Ministry of Justice and the NHS.

However, in the UK this process, known as Modern Methods of Construction or MMC, has yet to enter the mainstream. This is at least in part due to the nature of our housebuilding market, dominated as it is by a small number of large housebuilders, who have a near monopoly over the market and therefore little incentive to drive forward innovation.

In the UK modular construction has also suffered from a perception problem — a hangover from poorly constructed post-war prefabricated buildings. This perception is grossly outdated: a bit like comparing a Morris Marina with a Tesla. Take, for example, our award-winning Imjin Barracks project, a highly sustainable three-storey building that provides the UK’s defence personnel with modern, comfortable and technologically advanced accommodation. Built offsite through our advanced construction techniques, Imjin Barracks, like all the projects Reds10 delivers, is unrecognisable from the much-maligned ‘prefabs’ of yesteryear and is indistinguishable from buildings built through traditional construction techniques.

But it is not just residential developments that can benefit from industrialised construction techniques. Reds10 has been working with the government’s multibillion-pound New Hospital Programme (NHP) to develop a prototype for the new in-patient bedroom that will be delivered in the first wave of state-of-the-art hospitals that will be built over the next five years. The full-scale model room, complete with ensuite and corridor, is now undergoing an incredibly rigorous process of clinical review and testing to ensure it is fully optimised for clinical use —and crucially—before designs are locked and replicated thousands of times (the bedroom alone will be replicated over 3,000 times in just the first wave of hospitals). This means any technical issues can be resolved now, before 11 new hospitals are built simultaneously, ensuring the late‑stage rework that has plagued complex healthcare builds and driven up costs can be avoided.

The advantages of industrialising construction in this way are myriad. Our factory production process is optimised for efficiency using repeatable processes and components, modern manufacturing tools, and advanced technologies that would be impractical on a construction site. The efficiency of factory construction means project delivery timescales can be drastically reduced by up to 50%.

Industrialised construction also greatly improves quality, with fewer post-construction snagging issues. Buildings are more airtight, providing greater energy efficiency without additional cost. And with around 90% of the construction completed in the factory, there is also far less disruption to local communities from works on site.

The efficiency of MMC also means that we can build projects with less labour. Across our pipeline we use around 30% less labour than would be required by traditional construction techniques, which is a real plus given the severe skills shortage that has long afflicted the industry. If construction as a whole industrialised in this way, the skills gap would be bridged.

In our factory settings we also employ our own workforce, investing in their skills and career development and supporting young people into apprenticeships and training opportunities. By other industry standards this may seem unremarkable, but in construction employing your own workforce (rather than managing an ever-growing chain of smaller sub-contractors) is increasingly rare.

Ultimately, MMC and the benefits it brings has huge potential to transform the construction industry, providing better quality, more efficiency, greater cost reductions, higher productivity, and improved sustainability. Industrialising construction in the way Reds10 is pioneering would bring the industry into the 21st century and help deliver the modern homes and infrastructure the country needs.

Learn more about how Reds10 is transforming construction here.

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