The Wave project is a joint venture between Avebury, a Milton Keynes-based contractor, and the Riverside Housing Association that has been set up to produce off-site manufactured housing, primarily for the social housing sector.
Riverside is the largest housing association on Merseyside with nearly 23,000 properties in management, providing a range of housing-related services with an emphasis on regeneration. The Wave project seeks to provide a range of sustainable homes at the cutting edge of modern methods of construction. These homes, built with a close affinity to the environment, should cost around £2 per week to heat through exceptionally high levels of insulation and space.
Housing associations work with limited budgets, so they have to be conscious of economy and sustainability, not only in the design and construction of their housing, but also in terms of running and maintenance costs. This means that the best of them are often at the vanguard of design and construction, challenging the assumptions of conventional housebuilders.
Timber technology
Finnforest is always looking at new ways to use timber technology and the Wave project proved to be an ideal opportunity to use a range of our products including Finnjoist (FJI), Kerto and structural plywood. Similar technology was used on the Millennium Mews development in Croxteth, Merseyside, a development which won the national Homebuilder Design Award 2003 for the Best House of the Future and the best use of a Brownfield Site. As such, it is an excellent showcase for the flexibility of the FJI system.
Wave homes are manufactured off-site to very high standards and are then delivered to site with such features as factory-fitted ducts for plumbing and cabling, and integral insulation. The house can then be erected on prepared foundations in just two days. The FJI provides the basic structure for the wall system, with Kerto and structural plywood used elsewhere in the house design.
Wave can currently manufacture anything from a one-bedroom, two-person flat to a five-bedroom, seven-person home. There are currently demonstration projects in Merseyside, while developments of Wave homes are in progress in both Buckinghamshire and Cambridgeshire. Bedford Pilgrims Housing Association has also ordered over 500 Wave homes as part of a growth initiative in the south Midlands.
Benefits
The key benefits of using engineered timber I-joists throughout the construction of the whole house was recognised both by Avebury and Riverside following research commissioned from the University of Liverpool to review available technologies in the creation of new homes that improved the living environment of their tenants and promoted sustainable communities. This also focused on both the most effective methods of construction and the whole life costing of their buildings. It was this that brought timber frame construction to the fore.
For example, used in wall construction, as in this project, engineered timber I-joists allow a simple and easy way to comply, or indeed exceed, existing and future regulations regarding thermal insulation, such as Part L, without having to worry about increasing the weight and bulk of the frame. Standard joist sizes allow up to 195mm of insulation space, well beyond the 89mm used in much studwork to achieve the existing minimum U-value ratings. With standard insulation material, an engineered timber I-joist wall can reach a U-value rating of 0.2 and lower, depending on the insulation material used.
The Wave project not only highlights the innovation within the social housing sector but also the willingness to use new technologies. In addition it also demonstrates the very real benefits afforded by the use of timber frame – including the FJI of course! One can only hope that other developers take note and follow Riverside’s lead in championing the use of timber frame in the housing sector.
