Halifax business leads consortium to transform how schools are built
A £6m project to transform the way schools and healthcare facilities are built has been granted £2.9m of funding to showcase the future of modern methods of construction (MMC) in the UK.
The Seismic II consortium, which is being led by Halifax-based blacc, is working on the future of construction in order to create a set of standardised reconfigurable components, that can be assemble to deliver new schools and healthcare facilities. These components will reduce waste, cost and carbon dioxide emissions while increasing speed of delivery.
The project looks to build on the success of the Seismic I scheme, which showed how a standardised light steel frame could change the way new schools were designed and constructed. With the new award from the Industrial Strategy Challenge Fund, the system will encompass the production of wall, floor, ceiling and roof components that are all completely interoperable with the standardised light steel frame.
Richard Crosby, director, blacc said, “The Seismic system is already proving the benefits of offsite construction in the schools sector and our componentised off-site schools solution has saved the country tens of millions. Unsurprisingly, we are gaining interest from many other sectors too, including housing and healthcare. With this additional investment we’re through to a whole new level of productivity, efficiency and materials innovation.
“blacc has brought together this new consortium to create standardised solutions for the whole building envelope. We are opening up manufacturing opportunities at scale that also enable us to look at new high-performance materials that are currently not considered in the construction industry.
“Through collaboration we are cutting costs, cutting carbon and creating major industrial opportunities in the North and Midlands. Everything about the Seismic project addresses the Government’s vision for construction post-coronavirus and genuinely allows us to build back better.”
