UK BIM data and ‘flying factories’ in export drive

Clients in India and Argentina are being offered the chance to pioneer a radical new construction system that would see buildings assembled locally from full BIM data sets produced in the UK.

The “Generic Construction” initiative involves putting together consortia or special purpose vehicles to deliver a complete BIM-enabled design and manufacturing package to developing countries, side-stepping the traditional construction supply chain.

Early talks have been initiated by BuildOffsite, the membership organisation for contractors, designers and suppliers that champions BIM, design for manufacture and non-traditional construction. BuildOffsite members visited India in February to connect with potential clients, mainly in the housing sector, and there has also been a meeting about modular housing for Argentina.

The organisation has also had discussions with officials from UK Trade & Investment, which is  working to boost exports from the construction sector in line with targets in the Industrial Strategy for Construction.

Bryden Wood’s Gutenborg project in St Petersburg (above and below) is an example of how smaller firms can export their skills

Bryden Wood director Jaimie Johnston, whose firm is a member of BuildOffsite, explained: “A consortium could include us, an offsite supply chain provider, and software people. We would design a [construction] system, design the components, either deliver them from the UK or set up a factory locally. Part of the thinking is, ‘the UK market has a huge amount of expertise going in to not a lot of building, so why not export some of it?’.”

BuildOffsite director Richard Ogden added: “You start with the manufacturer, then you need an architect who understands Design for Manufacture and Assembly, who can start in the middle of the building and work to the outside.”  Main contractors could also be part of the SPV, he said, but only if they add value.

To “manufacture” the building, Ogden said that options included exporting “flat-pack” kits of parts if this is economically viable, exporting the equipment that makes the components, or setting up a “flying factory”.

“All the clever thinking is done by clever professional,s and you can leave the assembly to the locals,” he suggested. “You could be talking about a facility in a rented space, or even a tented structure – it would be nothing like Steetley,” he says, referring to Laing O’Rourke’s offsite manufacturing plant in Northamptonshire.

“The first thing construction people think is ‘let’s build a factory’. But once you build it you have to fill it – and that’s been the downfall of many offsite initiatives.”

Ogden says that the concept could offer small, innovative companies a direct route to export markets, citing Bryden Wood’s role in a Design for Manufacture flagship project in St Petersburg. “The UK could become a centre point for this: we have the skills, the knowledge and the people. People don’t know these things are available, they’re not offered by Aecom, but small companies [that] don’t have the rigidity and slow response times of other parts of the industry.”

Other components in the viability of the proposal would be accessing R&D tax credits in the UK and abroad, and the Buildoffsite Property Assurance Scheme (BOPAS), developed by Lloyd’s Register, Building Life Plans and Buildoffsite. BOPAS certification is available to manufacturers and provides confirmation that new homes built using innovative forms of construction are likely to be sufficiently durable to support loans over a period of not less than 60 years.