A student flat development in Liverpool has become one of the first in the UK to be created using bedrooms built abroad and shipped in crates to be stacked up on top of each other on site.
The project on Hope Street allows individual “pods” to be assembled in Latvia, transported to the Mersey docks and then hoisted into place using a massive crane which takes around 15 minutes to connect and then winch into place as the layer is built up.
The firm behind the scheme, Nordic Construction, said the method of building was revolutionary and that the Liverpool project could become the trailblazer for similar developments across the UK.
Nordic has completed one other much smaller project using modular construction in Herne Hill, London, which was only 69 beds, but they say Liverpool’s demand was much higher.
Adam Greenfield from Nordic told JMU Journalism: “With Liverpool’s growing student population and increased demand for quality accommodation, along with the size and great location of the project, an off-site modular solution was the ideal and most efficient method of construction for Hope Street.”
He added: “The benefits to the city and the local community, using an off-site manufactured product speeds up the whole construction process, reducing time on site and has far less impact on the local community and environment.
“It creates a much cleaner, safer working environment for the guys on site. Waste is reduced by up to 60% and the use of water on site is reduced by around 65%.”
Nordic is also restoring the historic marble statue of Hugh Stowell Brown which was badly damaged during the Toxteth riots and this will be returned to the corner of Hope Street and Myrtle Street in the summer of 2015.
The company believes that off-site manufacture is the way forward as it is faster, cleaner, and safer. It also lowers carbon emissions, has less impact on the environment and local communities.