Architectural Design Specialists, Ltd. London, Essay

According to the Council of Mortgage Lenders, "In the sustainable communities plan the government has linked use of MMC with the drive to boost housing supply, thus further raising the salience of the issue for lenders and other stakeholders. The Housing Corporation has stated that 25% of all new grant-aided construction by housing associations should be by MMC" (MMC 2010, 3).

In sum, modern methods of construction allow developers to "create eco friendly homes, reducing the amount of pollutants released into the atmosphere and homeowners' utility bills" (Lilley 2007). For instance, a recent report from Dixon (2006) notes that, "The innovative Quad at the Dunes development at Hadston, opposite Druridge Bay, offers buyers not only a two-bedroom home for just pounds 128,000, but also a look at one of the possible futures for new home building" (25). The innovative approach that allows for this cost efficiency is MMC. According to Dixon, "The Quad homes at Hadston have been built by Dunelm Castle Homes in configurations of four homes using modern methods of construction whereby a timber frame and structural insulated panel system, both manufactured off-site in factory conditions to ensure total quality control, is then assembled on-site to provide a contemporary open plan ground-floor layout to match modern living aspirations" (25).

This is not to say, of course, that site-built residential and commercial structures are obsolete or will be anytime soon; however, it is to say that modern methods of construction provide a viable and cost-effective alternative to traditional construction methods. In this regard, Dixon advises, "As a company, we will always be building homes in traditional methods, but we are also now in the forefront of the new modern methods of construction which use new technology and new ways of construction to produce high quality homes, usually faster and often cheaper than their traditional counterparts" (25). Also termed "industrialised building," MMC is based on the principle that as much of the work as possible is transferred from the site to the factory leaving only a simple assembly operation to be carried out on site" (Non-traditional housing in the UK -- a brief review 2002, 7).

Three MMC Options

Based on the foregoing, three viable options for the two-dwelling structure using MMC techniques are provided in Table 1 below.Table 1

Three options for two-dwelling structure using MMC techniques

Option

Description

Closed construction

With closed construction the bulk of the structure is produced from a fixed set of pre-fabricated parts, allowing very little scope to substitute products from other manufacturers.

Open construction

This option produces a shell from a relatively small number of parts, thereby allowing the designer considerable scope to create a unique design

A combination of closed and open construction

This option would incorporate the most desirable elements from the closed and open construction approaches specific to the two-dwelling structure being planned.

Source: Non-traditional housing in the UK -- a brief review 2002, 7

Task 6

Architectural Design Specialists, Ltd.

London, England

June 30, 2010

Mr. Joseph B. Smith, President

Joe B. Smith Construction, Ltd.

London, England EC1Y 8SY

Re: Rationale in Support of Design Element

J. Bentley Builder, President

Architectural Design Specialists, Ltd.

References

Architectural Design Process. 2010. Architypes.net. Retrieved from http://architypes.net/pattern / design-process.

Dixon, J. 2006, October 21. "Quad Gives Taste of the Future." The Journal 25.

Lilley, B. 2007, December 2. "Energy Bills Deal at Eco-Friendly Grange." The Journal 25.….....