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Innovations
in the
building
industry
may
contribute
to the
solving
of housing
problems
in large
cities
London
is a
challenge.
In recent
months,
several
hundred
thousand
incomers
from
Poland
have
passed
through
the
Victoria
Station.
The
majority
of them
have
come
to the
city
on the
Thames
in search
for
jobs,
while
only
the
few
have
been
conscious
of the
fact
that
on the
moment
of Poland's
integration
with
the
European
Union,
the
UK has
become
an attractive
market
for
products
manufactured
in Poland.
Contrary
to fears
expressed
both
in the
British
and
in the
Polish
media,
the
UK has,
without
any
greater
problem,
absorbed
an almost
two
hundred
thousand-strong
crowd
of Poles
seeking
employment
in there.
In the
opinion
of Mr.
Tomasz
Trafas,
the
Consul
General
of Poland
in London,
our
fellow
countrymen
are
valued
very
positively
in the
Great
Britain.
"The
British
value
Polish
employees.
The
majority
of Poles
get
employed
in the
building
sector,
while
many
others
in hotels
and
catering
establishments.
Owing
to their
ability
to adjust
to changing
situations,
Poles
manage
very
well
on the
British
market,"
says
Mr.
Trafas.
Practically
speaking,
it is
not
possible
to asses
the
British
housing
needs.
Mr.
John
Prescott,
the
Deputy
Prime
Minister,
who
is responsible
for
housing,
estimates
that
within
the
coming
ten
years,
it will
be necessary
to construct
a million
of new
dwellings.
The
United
Kingdom
which
is a
boiling
melting
pot
of races
and
cultures
is today
a place,
in which
daring
development
visions
are
created.
The
Deputy
Prime
Minister
Prescott
propagates
conceptions
of combining
British
cities
into
larger
organisms
by linking
them
with
express
roads
and
fast
railway
systems.
One
of such
"megalopolis"
would
cover
the
area
extending
from
the
Atlantic
coast
to the
North
Sea.
Everything
is possible
in the
United
Kingdom,
and
one
can
prove
it in
London
- a
city
with
fifteen
million
residents,
as some
say,
in which
extremely
interesting
architectural
projects
are
successfully
implemented,
in the
city
characterised
by the
strikingly
efficient
public
transport
and
an unrestrained
development
in the
majority
of fields.
However,
it is
housing
that
constitutes
one
of the
few
London
ills,
resulting,
among
other
things,
from
the
high
land
prices.
Unrestrained
changes
in the
urban
space,
which
show
that
there
are
no bad
locations,
as proved
by the
revitalisation
of post-industrial
areas
or the
London
docks,
turn
to new
building
technologies.
For
almost
three
years,
the
British
have
been
interested
in modular
houses,
manufactured
in Poland.
"These
facilities
comply
fully
with
our
standards
and,
at the
same
time,
are
by 12-20
per
cent
cheaper
than
units
produced
in our
country,"
said
Mr.
Mike
Kirk,
the
manager
from
the
London's
Hyde
Group
that
deals
with
rental
housing
projects,
during
the
last
week's
celebration
concerning
the
completion
of the
third
stage
of construction
of a
multi-family
building
in Wyndham
Road,
London.
The
contract
with
Hyde
is a
great
success
of the
Buma
Group
from
Kraków,
Poland
that
has
for
years
been
involved
in the
construction
of modular
buildings,
thus
paving
the
way
for
other
Polish
companies
willing
to be
present
on the
British
market.
The
house
in Wyndham
Road,
incorporating
18 flats,
is the
second
(after
a building
in Barling
Court,
in the
London's
district
of Stockwell)
facility
of the
same
investor.
"We
are
very
satisfied
with
the
cooperation
with
our
partner
from
Kraków,"
emphasises
Mr.
Iwan
Williams,
the
Hyde
representative.
"Our
joint
plans
concern
construction
of other
facilities,
including
the
one
in Lingham
Street.
In my
judgement,
due
to the
construction
of buildings
that
are
manufactured
in the
modular
technology,
we shall
able
to deliver
by 100-200
flats
more
each
year.
The
pressure
of the
government
on the
development
of housing
projects
that
are
based
on ready-made
elements
is great.
The
target
assumption
is that
modular
buildings
shall
constitute
as much
as 50%
of all
residential
buildings
to be
completed."
The
advantage
of the
modular
technology
(modules
are
manufactured
in the
factory
in Kraków)
is,
first
of all,
fast
assembly
and
erection
of buildings
on site.
Modules,
fully
furnished
with
electrical,
water,
sewage
and
ventilation
systems,
provided
with
windows
and
doors,
as well
as with
floor
finish,
plumbing
fixtures
and
lighting,
are
transported
on lorries
from
the
factory
in Kraków
to London
and,
after
having
travelled
for
ca.
1,800
km,
are
erected
on the
very
same
day
they
have
reached
the
site.
The
erection
of the
Wyndham
Road
building,
which
was
split
into
three
stages,
was
completed
after
less
than
two
months.
The
buildings
were
designed
by Mr.
Andrzej
Ogorzałek,
a graduate
of the
Polytechnic
of Kraków,
who
has
been
living
in Great
Britain
for
30 years.
Mr.
Ogorzałek,
together
with
architect
Piotr
Chłapowski,
established
the
London-based
PCKO
Architects
design
office.
PCKO
has
won
many
prestigious
awards
in British
competitions
and
last
year
it was
classified
by the
Royal
Institute
of British
Architects
as one
of five
leading
design
offices
in the
country.
"The
volumetric
module
technology
is fascinating
to me
for
many
reasons,"
stresses
Mr.
Ogorzałek.
"First
of all,
it eliminates
the
majority
of problems
related
to the
development
of building
projects
in large
city
centres.
Construction
sites
which
one
can
see
in almost
any
street
in London
disorganize
traffic
and
are
arduous
to the
neighbourhood.
The
modular
building
is free
of those
faults.
In near
future,
we shall
be constructing
in London
a facility
with
the
surface
area
of 2,000
sq.m.,
with
a kindergarten
in its
ground-floor
part.
Implementation
of such
a project
during
the
summer
holiday
season,
following
a proper
preparation
of the
site,
will
enable
the
kindergarten
(located
so far
in an
old
building
that
needs
to be
totally
refurbished)
to operate
without
any
greater
disturbances."
The
scale
of the
British
interest
can
best
be demonstrated
by the
fact
that
Hyde
took
upon
itself
costs
related
to the
preparation
of the
technical
approval
for
the
Polish
system,
estimated
at ca.
100-150
thousand
pounds.
The
approval
certificate,
issued
by the
British
Research
Establishment,
a research
institution
equivalent
to the
Polish
Building
Research
Institute,
enables
the
investors
involved
to contract
loans,
as well
as increases
the
value
of real
estates
on the
second
market.
The
most
recent
project
of PCKO
and
the
Buma
Groups
is their
joint
participation
in a
competition
for
the
best
design
of a
house
valued
at sixty
thousand
pounds.
"The
government
is interested
in cheap
building
projects
and
in making
available
proper
cheap
building
areas
through
English
Partnerships,
an all-British
organization
dealing
with
physical
planning,"
says
architect
Ogorzałek.
"In
this
case,
the
amount
is not
significant.
It is
the
creation
of innovative
solutions
in the
building
industry
that
matters."
Modules
manufactured
in Kraków
have
been
adjusted
to British
technical
requirements
and
specific
conditions
resulting
from
their
erection
place.
"Glass
panes
and
air
supply
elements
in windows
facing
the
street
have
increased
sound
insulation
parameters,"
says
Mr.
Krzysztof
Olsza,
Buma's
Project
Manager.
"Flat
entrance
doors
have
been
provided
with
30-minute
fire
resistance
doors.
Also
different
is the
ventilation
system
of the
building.
Kitchens
and
bathrooms
have
their
independent
fan
units,
while
change
of air
in rooms
is effected
through
air
supply
units
only.
In addition,
the
building
has
been
equipped
with
mechanical
smoke
exhaust
system,
to be
started
automatically
in the
event
of a
fire
or by
means
of an
electric
switch,
located
at the
entrance
door."
A
construction
project
implemented
by a
Polish
company
raises
understandable
interest.
The
erection
of the
third
stage
was
witnessed
by the
representatives
of the
media
(the
London
press
devotes
considerable
attention
to the
modules
from
Kraków
–
recently
there
has
been
a story
about
them
in "The
Guardian")
and
of the
local
communities.
"The
presence
of the
Polish
company
is a
proof
of changes
taking
place
in the
contemporary
world,"
said
Mr.
Simon
Hughes
from
the
Labour
Party,
the
Deputy
Prime
Minister
in the
"shadow
cabinet"
during
the
celebration
event.
"Owing
to the
use
of modern
technologies
in the
building
industry,
we are
able
to solve
one
of the
most
urgent
social
problems,
that
is the
lack
of dwellings."
The
quality
of modules
manufactured
in Kraków
has
been
very
highly
evaluated.
A fully
furnished
flat
to be
offered
to key
personnel
(teachers,
policemen,
physicians)
impressed
the
visitors.
"All
flats
have
been
furnished
with
IKEA
kitchen
furniture
that
is considered
in the
UK to
be product
representing
a good,
average
quality
level,
as well
as Polish
bathroom
fixtures,"
emphasises
architect
Krzysztof
Dymek,
who
supervises
the
project
implementation
on behalf
of Buma.
"I
value
this
project
extremely
positively,
and
I am
not
a casual
man
since
for
long
years
I have
been
managing
the
London
trade
union
of building
workers,"
stressed
Mr.
Bill
Skelly,
the
Mayor
of the
district
of Southwork
during
the
meeting
with
a team
of 11
men,
involved
in the
building
assembly.
"We
are
glad
that
you
are
here
with
us,
gentlemen,
and,
to be
perfectly
frank,
I wish
we could
have
you
in London
for
good."
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