Archinect - News

New study finds that modular construction produces 45% less carbon than traditional methods

2022-06-15T15:03:00-04:00

Factory-produced homes can produce up to 45% less carbon than traditional methods of residential construction, according to new research by academics from the University of Cambridge and Edinburgh Napier University. A study found that two modular housing schemes designed by HTA Design, consisting of a total of nearly 900 homes, saved a combined 28,000 tonnes of carbon.

The two schemes studied were the 44 and 38-story Ten Degrees towers in London’s Croydon borough, the world’s tallest completed modular building, and The Valentine, a 10-story student housing project in London’s Redbridge. Both were completed in 2020. The report found that these developments achieved embodied carbon savings of 41% and 45%, respectively, compared to traditional construction methods.

This difference comes down to modular buildings requiring less carbon-intensive products, such as concrete and steel, and less transport for on-site workers and materials. According to University of Cambridge senior research associate Tim Forman, the study highlights the importance of quantifying carbon in construction and across a building’s life cycle. The results make a strong case for the broader adoption of modular construction, especially as it has the potential to address the challenges of the climate crisis and the shortage of housing.

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Boxpark opens in Croydon

2016-11-02T11:57:00-04:00

Boxpark established itself in Shoreditch in 2011 and now, after five successful years, has opened a new venue in Croydon, designed by BDP.

The venture is part of the council's plan to transform the borough and create new public spaces. Next to East Croydon station, the venue, like the original site, offers dining as well as space for small independent traders.

Architect director at BDP Gavin Elliott said:

"Shipping containers are an intrinsic component of the Boxpark brand. There’s something quite magical about taking this mundane and ubiquitous object and turning it into something desirable and transformational. We’re using 96 containers in total and only four of them are unaltered. The whole assembly is like a giant 3D jigsaw puzzle but the finished result looks deceptively simple.

Boxpark Croydon is a place for people. The design comes alive now it’s occupied. It was incredible to see it over the opening weekend, at dusk, with the lights on and the music pumping. Rammed with people...

National Trust to show the beauty of Croydon

2016-07-08T03:27:00-04:00

Bowie hated it. Peep Show besmirched it. The London suburb may get a bad rap in popular culture, but now there is the chance to see a different side. [...] Watson is helping to organise tours of Croydon taking in architectural highlights such as NLA House (now No 1 Croydon), sometimes known as the ‘threepenny bit’; [...] The National Trust is turning to Croydon after its successful tours of London’s brutalist concrete buildings, places it argues should be cherished as much as Croydon’s towers.