Yorkon News Archives

14/01/2003 – Yorkon wins £1.4m affordable housing contract

Off-site construction specialist and Portakabin subsidiary, Yorkon, has been awarded a £1.4m contract to build 30 new homes for East Thames Housing Group. The £3m scheme will help to address the serious shortfall in the number of affordable homes in London.

The two-bedroom apartments for rent will be manufactured and fitted out at Yorkon's 60-acre manufacturing centre in York, and delivered to the brownfield site in east London, complete with bathrooms, kitchens, tiling, heating, electrics and balconies.

Yorkon is working on the development with constructor Countryside Properties, one of the UK's largest housebuilders, and architects, Stanford Eatwell & Associates. This latest contract follows Yorkon's success with the award-winning Murray Grove, Sixth Avenue and Raines Court housing schemes.

"Our aim is to build quality affordable housing for the local community, with zero defects in line with the Rethinking Construction agenda", said Keith Carter, Group Director – Technical Services at East Thames Housing. "The use of off-site construction will mean higher quality, factory finished apartments and reduced development costs because of the significantly shorter build time."

He added, "Yorkon offers a proven building system, which was appropriate for the size and mix of this scheme. They also have a reputation for providing good, innovative solutions for affordable housing."

Due for completion in summer 2003, the development on the Aberfeldy Estate in Tower Hamlets will be up to six storeys high and built as two blocks either side of a central core for the lift and stair tower. Features will include contemporary steel cross bracing to emphasise the building's modular construction, exposed steelwork to the stairwell, low maintenance rainscreen cladding, and terracotta-coloured rendering to the ground floor. Each apartment will comprise two steel-framed modules and will benefit from a recessed entrance court, and a private balcony or garden.

The scheme is jointly funded by the Housing Corporation, London Borough of Tower Hamlets, Leaside Single Regeneration Budget, the London Development Agency and East Thames Housing Group.

For further information on the advantages of off-site construction, including case studies of other affordable housing projects, visit www.yorkon.co.uk.

Editor's Notes

Yorkon's award-winning modular building system is an efficient alternative to traditional site-based construction, which saves time, guarantees cost and quality, and minimises disruption.
Off-site construction involves the manufacture of steel-framed modules in a factory environment, using production line technology, whilst the foundation works are completed on site. The modules are delivered to site by road where they are craned into position in just a few days.