Does More Efficient Construction Have to be Less Creative?

Greater efficiency, savings in time and cost – these are well understood and documented benefits of offsite construction. But what pictureis conjured up in people’s minds when they think about buildings that are made in a factory?

If the image is one of uninspiring, cookie cutter designs that are easy to build but not easy on the eye, then the image is a long way removed from the reality.

There’s a strong argument that says building with Structural Insulated Panels (SIPs) opens up new possibilities for creative building designs. They combine inherent strength and rigidity, high thermal efficiency, fine tolerances and enormous variety in size, shape and configuration. SIPs are, in reality, a creative building designer’s dream.

Design Opportunities

Large spans, opportunities to use natural light in imaginative ways and guaranteed thermal performance remove many design constraints of traditional builds. The wide range of roofing finishes and cladding allow any external appearance or local vernacular to be accommodated.

Engaging early in the process with our specialist design and engineering teams also takes away one of the other big doubts of creative building design: ‘can my vision actually be built?’

Our offsite process leaves nothing to chance. There are no details to be ‘worked out’ onsite. Effectively the structure is ‘built’ in detail in a virtual environment. The idea (and the reality) is that the panels are then manufactured to order and fitted together quickly and precisely by our small onsite teams. The fine detail of material interfaces and how each component fits together has already been worked out.

A quick browse through some of our case studies shows just how versatile SIPs are. Projects in education, healthcare, housing and commercial buildings really do come in just about any size, shape and style.

The architects and designers on these projects quickly became enthusiasts for the ability and the technique brings to design with creativity and confidence as well as the time and cost savings.