DONALDSON Timber Systems has introduced a range of new house types to meet the increasing demand for ‘cost-effective, sustainable, and modern methods of construction-compliant’ housing solutions across the UK.
The affordable housing range offers a mix of 16 house types. The portfolio includes one, two, three, and four-bedroom homes arranged in terraced, semi-detached, and detached formats.
Each architect-designed house type has been developed around Donaldson Timber Systems’ Sigma II closed panel timber frame system, ensuring consistency in performance, manufacture and programme, backed by third party accreditations including BOPAS+, BBA and STA Gold.
As part of the ‘smarter inside’ approach, fabric performance is designed and built in, delivering low-energy living, long-term durability and compliance with current and future regulatory standards – including achieving the performance of the future homes standard with no additional works required on site.
The range also ‘meets and exceeds’ Homes England’s minimum requirement for a pre-manufactured value (PMV) of 55% using only the timber frame build system; and allows the frames to be windproof and watertight on site in one day.
The specified components use a limited range of window sizes and uniform bathroom and WC setting-out to ensure the efficient procurement of materials from a variety of manufacturers, while reducing embodied energy usage through material optimisation and repeatability.
The homes are also land-efficient, with the width of each floorplan reduced to ensure roads, footpaths and services are ‘minimised’, and a consistent depth of floorplan, enabling ‘seamless’ terracing and efficient master planning. The result, Donaldson claimed, is a flexible yet controlled housing portfolio that can be confidently deployed across a range of development sizes and locations.
While standardisation is key, each home incorporates individual design flexibility to factor in local need, planning context and long-term adaptability, such as identified space for future showers in ground floor bathrooms; additional kitchen storage; and space for air source heat pump hot water cylinders.
John Smith, technical director at Donaldson Timber Systems, said, “This housing range has been specifically developed to respond to the pressures facing the affordable housing sector; delivering more affordable homes, faster and at lower cost, without compromising on quality, performance or compliance.
“Offsite timber frame construction is uniquely positioned to respond to this challenge. By moving elements of the build process into a controlled manufacturing environment, we reduce on-site labour requirements, improve quality consistency and accelerate programme delivery, while exceeding required performance standards and delivering quality homes that people want to live in. The result is a smarter delivery model that helps affordable housing providers build more homes, more efficiently, with greater confidence in cost, compliance, suitability and long-term performance.”
