A most fashionable development

What on earth can a former fashion designer teach the construction industry about modern methods of building new homes? Quite a lot apparently

To go from the glamorous world of fashion to the brave new environment of modern methods of construction (MMC) sounds somewhat unusual, but designer Charlie Greig (pictured) has done just that – launching her new modular housing concept at this year’s Ideal Homes Show.

“Making houses or making dresses, you’ve still got materials and you’ve got to put them together,” she said, “[but] obviously there was a steep learning curve for 10 years after I left fashion, when I learned from my exhusband the business of property development hands on. And then I started
on my own, but the best way to learn is to do it yourself and find out all the snags that come with the job.”

The culmination of this experience and hands on learning is the Cub building system that gained its world premiere at the Ideal Homes Show. A s you might expect of the venue, the Polar range demonstrated at the show in the form of a three-bedroom house is very much the “Jaguar” of the product, aimed at the luxury market, but Greig and her company Cube Housing Solutions are enthusiastic about the scope it offers for affordable housing. The Cub system is an ‘off the shelf’ modular ‘pod’ assembly that can ‘plug’ together to create a variable range of homes, from one bed properties to multi-bedroom homes up to three storeys high. The modules emerge from the factory complete with interiors, all ready to be ‘slotted together’ on site and plugged into the utilities. T he modules are manufactured by Greig’s delivery partners, FutureForm.

Greig’s design, and the degree of quality control than can be enacted in a factory environment, means that Cub offers high specs not only in terms of structure and interiors, but in terms of its sustainable performance. Indeed, it was a desire to achieve the highest environmental performance that inspired her to look beyond traditional building methods to MMC to come up with the initial concepts for the design.

The spur for the Cub concept, if not quite the prototype – the “mothership” as Greig called it – was her last traditional build project – her own home. She wanted to achieve the highest sustainable performance possible in a traditional building, leading her to research into the issues, the technologies and the Code for Sustainable Homes. She quickly realised that to achieve the highest performance meant moving towards a modular system.

The results have certainly impressed, if the accreditations are anything to go by. The concept has already earned itself a place at the BRE’s Innovation Park. It was presented with a ‘Design S tage Certificate to Code Level 5’ of the Code for Sustainable Homes as well as the Metropolitan Police’s Secured by Design accreditation. Furthermore it has NHBC Building Control Type Approval certification, making it eligible for purchase through a mortgage.

Cub homes come in three different sizes – 51m2, 102m2 and 153m2 – and several different finishes. While the Polar range presents a glossy futuristic sheen, other models offer timber-cladding, brick-slip or render. However, at a starting price of £88,500 (excluding planning and groundworks) the homes aren’t quite in the affordable bracket as yet, but Greig is keen to explore the adaptation of the concept as a solution to deliver affordable housing.

“We can de-spec the houses to bring them in at a more affordable price. The homes can be designed to what they [housing associations] need,” Greig said. “RSL s and private developers are finding it an interesting alternative because it has a fixed turnaround time, fixed cost pricing, and the service we can offer is a complete turn-key solution, from foundations, groundworks, utilities, to delivering the building. It really is a total service.”

And if – when – the concept takes off, then potential customers will benefit from the advantage of manufacturing. As Greig added: “Once the factory is rolling these out as an off-the-shelf product, the prices will come down. Which is nice.”