黑洞社区

The next generation of skyscrapers could be pieced together almost entirely from off-site production lines, according to Laing O鈥橰ourke鈥檚 group technical director Paul Westbury.

Speaking to 黑洞社区 at the Ecobuild event in London last week, Westbury said the acute lack of space in city centres such as London, as well as clients鈥� increasing awareness of off-site techniques, could 鈥減ull鈥� developers towards taking up the construction method.

He said: 鈥淭ake the logistics of a really tight city centre site, how on earth are you supposed to build traditionally when there鈥檚 almost no room or space for a traditional site compound or laydown areas or logistics space?

鈥淭he idea that you manufacture things off-site and lift it off with a crane - it鈥檚 the only way you could attempt to build it. Restrictions on lorry loads coming into London, emissions targets, targets on [reducing] people movement鈥� it is all trending in that [off-site] direction.鈥�

Laing O鈥橰ourke has invested heavily in its off-site capability in recent years, including in its design for manufacture and assembly (DfMA) factory in the Midlands.

The contractor extensively used the method when building developer British Land鈥檚 Leadenhall Tower (pictured), better known as 鈥榯he Cheesegrater鈥�. Up to 85% of the skyscraper was built using some form of off-site production, Westbury said.

He added: 鈥淢ore and more clients are asking for different methods of construction. They are starting to pull on us to change. They are looking at traditional methods of construction and saying 鈥業 don鈥檛 want that any more鈥�. They want better standards and higher certainty around the holy grail of cost, schedule and quality.

鈥淭here鈥檚 a huge appetite to do it but because firms do not have a manufacturing business in-house they are finding it difficult to keep going, the supply chain is really fragmented.鈥�

However, Laing O鈥橰ourke鈥檚 commitment to off-site has come at a financial cost. In Laing O鈥橰ourke plc鈥檚 last set of accounts for the year to March 2016 the division - which cover鈥檚 the firm鈥檚 operations in Europe, Canada and Abu Dhabi - admitted it had racked up 拢43m of contract losses on three jobs carried out by its DfMA business.

But the firm remains committed to off-site construction, saying in its accounts: 鈥淭hese projects were substantially redesigned in order to demonstrate the benefits of DfMA. Significant lessons have been learned.鈥�

Separately it emerged last week that Laing O鈥橰ourke is in talks to sell a small pre-cast concrete factory in Uddingston, Scotland, to Northern Ireland-based manufacturer FP McCann.

The Uddingston factory produces products under Laing O鈥橰ourke鈥檚 Bison brand. If the deal goes ahead 50 employees will transfer to 1,500-strong FP McCann.

Laing O鈥橰ourke鈥檚 Bison brand and its other Swadlincote plant in Derbyshire will be unaffected.