The future’s modular

With over 40 years of experience in the industry, those working within and in partnership with Springfield have always seen the incomparable advantages in constructing modular structures. It seems that, in an attempt to strengthen the building blocks of the future of the UK construction sector, the Government have now turned their eye to the benefits of offsite construction too. And it’s got us excited.

It comes after the House of Lords Science and Technology Committee published a report entitled: ‘Off-site Manufacture for construction: building for change’ which sang the praises of the potential our modular line of work could provide. The concern throughout the sector, which comes primarily from the need for a greater number of homes, is that current construction methods are inefficient and costly. The committee therefore, described how offsite manufacturing can help ‘to increase productivity in the construction sector while reducing labour demands, improving the quality and efficiency of buildings, and reducing the environmental impacts associated with traditional construction.’

Fantastic news for Springfield. During our lifetime, we’ve managed to get the construction of portable and modular buildings down to a fine art and clearly the Government hope to do the same. The report recognised the fact that offsite manufacturing is perfectly suited to the construction of social infrastructure, a point which is particularly important for us. Springfield prides itself in providing services for a wide range of sectors, from education and the NHS, to sports and leisure based buildings and so the report offers hope of an even greater need for the completely customisable structures we offer. To see a greater Government investment in our area of expertise would be a huge boost to both the social and economic pressures that the UK faces today.

What is apparent however, and is noted by the report, is that despite the clear advantages in utilising offsite manufacturers, the skills needed to implement it on a nationwide scale are lacking in the labour market. It turns out not every manufacturer has been on the scene for four decades. So the providing young people entering the rugged world of construction with the digital skills needed for modern industry methods, will become considerably more important as time progresses.  

However, the future does seem bright for our sector. The nation’s approach to construction is not set to change overnight, but with this report comes hope that a greater reliance on offsite manufacturing will play an even larger role in the market in the coming future.  As a company we have provided bespoke, tailor-made units for clients across the UK and Europe, but it would be refreshing to see a nationwide initiative to utilise our industry into the UK’s infrastructure.