Faster, ‘greener’, and more controllable construction

The Government’s 2025 Construction Industry Targets call for a 33% reduction in both initial construction costs and the whole-life cost of built assets by 2025, and 50% falls in both time from inception to completion for new-build and refurbished ‘assets’, and built environment-associated greenhouse gas emissions. Northern Ireland-headquartered offsite construction specialist, the McAvoy Group, believes that if the sector relies on continuing use of ‘traditional’ construction alone the targets will not be met. However, it says, factor in the efficiencies, speed, controllability, lower lifecycle costs and environmental impact, and ‘superior quality’, of offsite construction, and the prospects look considerably brighter. HEJ editor, Jonathan Baillie, reports.

While modular construction tended once to be predominantly considered a speedy, low-cost, and short-term solution to capacity issues in sectors such as education – think of the widespread use of pre-fabricated school buildings – today specialists in offsite manufacture and build emphasise just how high quality a result they can achieve, delivering longlasting buildings to a standard equivalent to, or superior to, traditional construction, while simultaneously significantly reducing time on site, disruption, and environmental impact. Nevertheless, Eugene Lynch, managing director of the McAvoy Group explained when I met he and several of his colleagues at the Group’s Dungannon, County Tyrone headquarters, despite offsite-constructed buildings being especially well-suited to healthcare – where fast completion, predictable programme, the potential to generate revenue at an early stage, and to minimise disruption, are key, some healthcare estates, capital project, and other healthcare specifiers remain sceptical that such buildings can ‘deliver’, and – despite them offering a design life exceeding 60 years – whether they are ‘built to last’. These are notions that Eugene Lynch and his colleagues are determined to dispel, as McAvoy – best known to date for its education sector expertise, at least outside Ireland – steps us its efforts to target healthcare customers across the UK. 

Frustrating perceptions