Taylor Lane’s Classic wall system has been used to construct 22 dwellings at Burcot Lane in Bromsgrove, an £8.6m housing development delivered on behalf of Bromsgrove District Council.
The scheme included the demolition of the former Council offices to make way for 18, two and three-bedroom semi-detached houses, 39, one-bedroom apartments and four two-bedroom maisonettes – a mixture of timber frame and steel frame dwellings.
Taylor Lane was appointed timber frame supplier by main contractor, Speller Metcalfe, and was responsible for the supply and build of timber frames for all 18 houses and two of the two-bedroom maisonettes.
The Classic wall system includes factory-fitted external reflective breather paper, 9mm OSB external sheathing and 100mm stud insulation. Metal web joists were also supplied as part of the timber frame kit. The MMC Category 2 timber frame was made using PEFC certified timber.
Timber frame was one of the green technologies employed by the Council to reduce the carbon impact of the homes, as Strategic Housing & Business Support Manager for Bromsgrove District & Redditch Borough Councils', Matthew Bough, explains: “The site was the former Council offices and an ideal opportunity for the Council to have a positive impact on the housing market in the District.
“The Council considers the use of Modern Methods of Construction (MMC) as an important part of the future construction of homes, in a timely manner, and complements the Council’s priority of tackling climate change.”
The project was funded by both Bromsgrove District Council and a grant from Homes England under its Local Authority Accelerated Construction (LAAC) programme. MMC was also a requirement of the grant funding.
Bromsgrove District Council also received £610k from the Getting Building Fund through the Worcestershire LEP, this was to increase the renewable technologies and improve energy performance.
Worcester-based practice, Zebra Architects Ltd designed the houses and maisonettes to include air source heat pumps with underfloor heating to ground floors, MVHR, Waste Water Heat Recovery and photovoltaic array. Air tightness was also a key factor of the sustainable building design, to which the timber frame made a positive contribution. The air tightness achieved was below 3.5m3/m2.hr. The houses achieve an EPC A rated score in excess of 100.
Taylor Lane is a long-established supplier to leading regional contractor, Speller Metcalfe, having worked together on many and varied schemes across the West Midlands and South West. Burcot Lane is one of several recent collaborations.
“We had a strong working relationship with Taylor Lane on the Burcot Lane scheme,” commented Speller Metcalfe. “The team were well managed, met the programme and issued all relevant information on time."
The Burcot Lane properties are a mix of private and social rent, and private and shared ownership, and are now fully occupied. Bromsgrove District Council’s Registered Provider partners supply further affordable housing across the district.