The results of the Seismic Consortium have been unveiled and have been hailed as a trailblazer for transforming construction. Richard Crosby, Director of construction consultants blacc, describes how this pioneering consortium could transform the way schools are designed, procured and built offsite.
Seismic was established to carry out extensive research and development into the increased use of standardisation to drive down costs, reduce lead times and radically improve productivity in the delivery of outstanding primary schools. Two key innovations have now been launched – an innovative open source app for the design of primary schools and a universal connection solution and standardised structural frame for schools built offsite.
The project was funded by UKRI through the Industrial Strategy Challenge Fund and Innovate UK and all the partners involved in the Seismic
project, recognised its potential and each invested significant resources to ensure its success.
• The original concept was developed by blacc who also provided project leadership expertise
• The McAvoy Group and Elliott collaborated to standardise the structural components, with a view to expanding the market and de-risking offsite for clients. These partners worked very well together, successfully combining their offsite manufacturing expertise for the success of the project
• The Manufacturing Technology Centre (MTC) co-ordinated the bid submission and acted as the catalyst to create the consortium. The MTC also gave the partners the opportunity to think beyond how schools have been delivered previously and apply more manufacturing principles to the construction of new schools, helping to develop more efficient processes.
• Bryden Wood provided digital expertise and led the development of the technology for the configurator.
The starting point with the framing solution was to engineer a single, standardised way for The McAvoy Group and Elliott to interconnect their respective modular building systems. An engineered solution has been developed to connect each of the steel frames that make up a module – and to interconnect each module vertically and horizontally. The result is fewer welded joints and fewer connections – which in turn means less steel, less weight, faster assembly and therefore reduced cost.
The frame solution has been standardised around the building clusters developed by the Department for Education (DfE). It has a single width and height, and three length options to suit school buildings – using the same engineered connection solution. The principle of standardised, manufactured components is that greater volumes will drive down costs and simplify procurement. For example, the DfE can pre-order a series of modules from any manufacturer that will be available ‘off the shelf’ for faster building assembly when a site receives planning.
By rationalising the design of the steel frame, the number of components has been reduced. This means faster module assembly in the factory – increasing productivity by up to 50%. Work on site to interconnect modules is also more efficient. Research has shown that the new solution significantly reduces the number of frame components and will therefore use 25% less steel. The reductions in steel components and assembly time combine to generate a cost saving for these elements of up to 25%.
With fewer components, the weight of the modules will reduce by 25% with no compromise on structural rigidity – resulting in 25% lower carbon emissions for the offsite construction of an average 40-module school. This is equivalent to over 155,000 miles of car driving or 17 flights from London to Sydney.
The Seismic School Configurator
An innovative open source app has been developed which enables the full spectrum of community to get involved in the design of primary schools. The Seismic School app is a user-friendly, free web-based tool that has been developed to accelerate the initial design and feasibility stages for new primary schools.
It will enable anyone from architects, planners, manufacturers to teaching professionals, school governors, parents and even pupils to configure a primary school building that will precisely meet their user needs on a specific site in full compliance with DfE and all regulatory requirements. The tool will significantly reduce the time and cost of the initial feasibility and design phases from weeks to minutes and will democratise the input of stakeholders by including them in the process.
“The Seismic project is a powerful example that the targets set out in the Construction 2025 Strategy are achievable,” says Sam Stacey, Challenge Director – Transforming Construction at UKRI. “It is one of the first Innovate UK projects under Transforming Construction to be completed and demonstrates that this level of collaboration is the future of construction.
“This initiative has been a tremendous success and I am delighted to report that it has hit all of the targets for Transforming Construction. The project partners have demonstrated an unprecedented level of collaboration which we hope will inspire other forward-thinking projects to help innovate in construction and produce
more efficient, sustainable and affordable buildings. We are in no doubt that these innovations have the potential to change the way primary school projects are designed, procured and constructed, helping to meet the rising demand for school places and increase capacity in the construction industry.
“The commitment, investment and R&D capabilities of each of the project partners has been very impressive. Seismic has shown how by working together as an industry, even greater progress and innovation can be accomplished.”
The benefits are already being realised in new DfE procurement frameworks. The team is in the process of completing testing of the frame solution. The next stage is collaboration with steel fabricators to develop the standardised components and establish a supply chain with a view to making these available to the offsite market in the coming months. This approach will aggregate demand to reduce cost.
The aim is to develop a ‘product family’ for different types of buildings, such as residential. The team also has aspirations to ‘componentise’ other parts of a school building to be able to offer a whole school solution, including walls and roofs.
