TALO Awarded 8-unit Offsite Housing Contract in Kent
TALO, a specialist in highly sustainable offsite housing solutions, has been awarded its first contract for Frankham Developments. The scheme at Oregon Square in Orpington, Kent will provide eight ultra-low energy homes for market sale in a new landscaped cul-de-sac.
The development comprises four semi-detached two-bedroom properties and four detached three-bedroom houses. The chalet-style homes are architecturally designed to a high standard in keeping with the residential area and to meet the stringent design requirements of the London Plan.
TALO’s advanced timber superstructure system will be manufactured offsite in Finland to reduce work on site, deliver a higher level of thermal efficiency and to ensure the homes exceed Passivhaus energy standards. This will give homeowners the benefit of much lower running costs and greater certainty of delivery on time and on budget for Frankham.
Each home will have sustainable MVHR (mechanical ventilation and heat recovery), a solar package to power hot water and underfloor heating, and triple-glazed timber windows that will be pre-installed in TALO’s factory for a higher quality finish.
The structures are due to arrive on site in the summer and each home will take just one week to build ready for fitting out and installation of brickwork, render, timber cladding, and roof tiling.
Commenting on the specification of TALO’s offsite system for this project, Oliver Morse, Director of Frankham Developments:
“We have seen many offsite and MMC solutions at Frankham and have found this to be the best in terms of quality of build.
The biggest benefit of the TALO approach for us is programme certainty and how this system can minimise the impact of the British weather. Rain and low winter temperatures cause quality issues, delays on site and make it very difficult to schedule the internal fitout phases, which add to cost and programme delays.
Another major benefit is that we can replicate the design of the structure and roll it out on to other sites with cost certainty and reduced design fees. We also anticipate that the much lower energy costs for each home will be an important selling point in a competitive housing market.”
Bengt Magnussen, Commercial Director of TALO:
"Frankham has an established reputation for creating bespoke, high quality private residential-led developments, as well as being a development partner of choice for a number of housing associations in the Southeast of England. We are delighted to be awarded our first project with their team and are looking forward to demonstrating how we can facilitate the delivery of ultra-low energy homes on time and to the highest possible build standards.
Our approach to offsite construction and MMC gives our customers unrivalled flexibility in architectural design for low rise housing. Our dry timber processes from sawmill and factory to site mean our timber structural installations are completely watertight and airtight in a matter of days. This reduces movement and snagging and improves the thermal efficiency of every home we build.”
The properties at Oregon Square will have brick cladding, render, pitched roofs and dormer windows to reflect the character of this residential area. Each home will have a dedicated cycle store, generous rear garden and a front parking space. The chalet bungalows will be wheelchair accessible.
The delivery architects for this project are Gebhard and Goodwin and the principal contractor is Building Associates.
For more information about this project or TALO's timber offsite solutions for low rise housing, contact us here - hello@talo.co.uk.
Image for illustrative purposes – courtesy of Frankham Developments