Britain’s biggest housebuilder, Barratt, has revealed plans to open a £45m timber frame factory at Infinity Park in Derby, UK.
The 186,000 sq ft manufacturing facility will be used to put together timber frames for new build homes and will replace its existing Oregan site in Burton-upon-Trent. The combined site will employ around 200 people.
The new factory will enable Barratt to build more homes off site and meet the 2025 Future Homes Standard. The standard requires all homes in England to be constructed producing 75% to 80% less carbon emissions than homes built under the current Building Regulations.
Barratt constructed 3,700 of its 18,000 homes last year using timber frames.
It said using a timber frame system enabled it to cut build time on developments by an average of five weeks compared to the traditional masonry method.
David Thomas, chief executive of Barratt Development, said: “Increasing our use of modern methods of construction, including timber frames, is a key part of Barratt’s road to net zero carbon.
“Barratt is determined to remain the leading national sustainable housebuilder and our industry-leading innovation and sustainability teams are working with our suppliers to challenge every aspect of construction to reduce carbon in the manufacture, transportation and build process, as well as looking at how customers can cut carbon whilst living in their homes.”
Barratt bought Oregon, one of the UK’s biggest timber frame manufacturers, in 2019 to help it build more homes off-site, as part of its plans to grow the business and become carbon neutral by 2030.
Peter Wade, joint managing director at Oregon, said: “Infinity Park in Derby will become our new base to support Barratt’s commitment as a leader in sustainable housebuilding at scale. This new state-of-the-art facility will support our long-term goals to increase the use of modern methods of construction off-site to reduce Barratt’s carbon footprint.”
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