British Offsite opened the doors to its new state-of-the-art Horizon factory recently, to show visitors first-hand, how they are bringing robotics and streamlined production processes to panelised light gauge steel design.
Over 50 visitors from all parts of the building industry were shown around the new 180,000sq ft factory as part of the Explore Offsite factory tour programme. Horizon is the second British Offsite factory and follows on from its Skyline facility – both based in Braintree, Essex.
Opening in July 2023 and now fully operational, Horizon was three years in the planning and construction, and was designed in collaboration with Swedish robotic engineering firm Randek AB and has seen an overall £45million investment including £6million on the hyper-modern production line.
British Offsite worked with the Manufacturing Technology Centre (MTC) to help scope out Horizon, with mapping exercises, layout advice and used the existing Skyline facility to help inform its decisions on the production line. When working at full capacity in 2025, the new factory will look to deliver 110,000 linear metres of its UNIsystem with an aim of creating 4,000 homes per year.
Advanced manufacturing
The completed factory looks superb with a glass and Trimco-panels façade with solar panels on the roof helping reduce energy costs and deliver wider sustainability benefits. There are also special energy monitoring systems to review factory production capacity. Alongside the triple-height main factory floorspace containing the production line, there is 1,860sq m of office space, R&D suite and staff welfare facilities including a canteen and healthscreening clinic.
After a company overview presentation, visitors were given a full tour of the production floor so they could see for themselves how British Offsite are approaching a fabric first approach to building design. Launched in 2020, British Offsite are developing both a product and process driven model – central to this being a manufacturing mindset and the adoption of robotic technology. The sensor-guided robots ‘transport, grab, cut, drill, nail, screw, weld, glue, fill, spray-paint’ and are developed specifically for the construction sector to make and assemble the light gauge steel panels.
The robotics ensure precision cutting and assembly for every component plus they reduce waste and damage through poor handling. This process is helped with multi-skilled operatives across the different stations working on the panels and monitoring them through the production line. The ‘semi-autonomous’ approach guarantees that products being manufactured offer high quality, repeatability and a reliable standardised panel. All panels are subject to rigorous testing and quality control with a ‘hospital lane’ carrying out any remedial work before panels are stored, wrapped and prepared for transport.
“We want to speed up our client’s construction phase and help them realise the 20-30% programme savings and quicker return on investment that offsite delivers,” said Richard Bacon, Business Development Manager. “You can build in many efficiencies through the manufacturing environment. Doing it in the factory makes perfect sense – we know we can deliver what we are saying we can deliver.”
Precision 2D systems
The Horizon factory produces British Offsite’s panelised UNisystem range.
These light gauge steel closed panels have windows, doors, thermal and acoustic insulation, vents and fire stopping factory-fitted and are a ‘complete’ panel. The UNisystem range comprises of infill and load bearing panels, with wall and floor options available. They can be manufactured to a maximum height of 3.2m and a maximum length of 8.4m but panels outside of these sizes can also be produced. Panels come with fixings applied for a range of external finishes including brick ties for brickwork, brackets for cladding or brick slip systems or a mixture to support a combination of finishes.
It is an adaptable system for a range of sectors. Although the present focus is on residential projects, the production line is not limited to housebuilding and has the capacity to extend to school buildings, healthcare facilities and student accommodation. British Offsite are already in discussions about providing solutions for the education sector.
You can build in many efficiencies through the manufacturing environment. Doing it in the factory makes perfect sense – we know we can deliver what we are saying we can deliver.
Shaping up future delivery
An example of UNisystem success can be seen at Abbey Quay, Barking. This new £18.9million urban riverside project in the London Borough of Barking & Dagenham has 13 residential blocks ranging from 7 to 29-storeys in height. The sixacre, 1,000 homes scheme will be delivered over the next five-years. For the superstructure, the project team at Abbey Quay utilised 7,500 linear metres of UNipanel, complemented with 5,700 linear metres of UNiwall, the internal closed panel pre-fitted with insulation, doorways, MEP and service void battens.
Speaking earlier in the year, Shaun Weston, Managing Director of British Offsite said he was proud to be part of the new wave of high-tech British manufacturing, bringing significant new capabilities to the UK construction industry saying: “We’ve created one of the most automated light gauge steel panel assembly lines in Europe. The new robotic production line at Horizon allows for the consolidation of the work of up to five trades into one panel. Our MMC products are designed to be easily integrated into existing projects, helping to streamline traditional residential construction.”
Wrapping up the Horizon tour Shaun Weston led a Q&A session and was hugely positive about the future of the factory and UNisystem saying: “We have lots of capacity potential, but we want to spend the next two years taking sensible meaningful steps. The number one most important thing to us is ‘let’s make it safe and make sure its quality’ – that’s very much our ethos.”
Advanced manufacturing, delivering quality precision products through a repeatable process is why offsite/MMC works. Presently, the factory is busy supplying products to Weston Homes projects but is ramping up production with an ongoing process to streamline the assembly of every component and maximise efficiency even further. The new Horizon factory is certainly impressive and is arguably one of the most advanced in Europe dedicated to manufacturing light gauge steel systems. It is also emblematic of the potential that offsite construction holds for the built environment and the future of UK manufacturing.
