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Technology
of the
future:
demountable
houses
A
BUILDING
IN FOUR
DAYS
The
British
media
announced
a revolution
in construction:
a three--storey
apartment
building
in London
was
recently
assembled
from
modules
in four
days!
The
same
method
will
be used
for
office
complexes
to be
built
by the
Thames,
retirement
homes
and
other
public
buildings.
It will
be possible
to dismantle
all
of these
and
move
them
to other
locations.
Fast
and
durable
In
their
reports
from
the
construction
site
at Barling
Court
in the
suburb
of Stockwell,
British
journalists,
aside
from
stressing
the
record
short
time
it takes
to construct
a building,
highlight
the
fact
that
the
modules
travelled
by truck
over
2,000
km before
reaching
London.
These
modules
came
from
Poland,
more
precisely
Kraków,
as that
is where
the
factory
producing
them
is located.
Of even
greater
astonishment
must
be the
fact
that
the
owner
of this
factory
is not
a British
company
or any
company
originating
from
"old
Europe"
or America,
but
Poland
- Buma
System
S.A.
What’s
more,
it is
precisely
Buma
that
has
the
know-how,
i.e.
has
patented
the
revolutionary
technology
of modular
demountable
houses.
"We
are
offering
a product
that
is not
available
anywhere
else
in the
world.
This
is a
structure
featuring
the
parameters
of an
ordinary
building,
but
it is
demountable.
Many
companies
are
trying
to make
something
similar,
yet
our
technology
has
been
evaluated
as the
most
precise
and
the
best
quality,"
says
Jacek
Michalski,
Executive
Director
of the
headquarters
of Buma
System
S.A.
Precise
hand-over
What
was
marvelled
at in
London,
above
all,
was
the
record
short
building
assembly
time
and
its
low
price.
Six
workers
assembled
one
floor
every
day-
ready
to live
in,
with
finished
facades,
installations,
bathrooms
and
fully
fitted
kitchens.
Buma
technology,
however,
requires
ideally
precise
workmanship.
The
steel
framework
is made
in the
factory,
completed
with
insulation
layers,
covered
in plaster
and
painted,
fitted
with
windows
and
doors,
carpets,
and
a finished
ceiling
complete
with
a hook
for
the
lamp.
Such
module
is attached
to galvanised
anchors
on the
foundation
footing
and
other
modules
are
fitted
on and
alongside
it.
Everything
is bolted
together,
with
a tolerance
of approximately
2 mm.
"We
are
able
to assemble
a building
in four
days
while
our
competitors,
at present,
carry
out
all
facade
work
at the
construction
site.
Therefore
the
investment
takes
much
longer,"
notes
Jacek
Michalski.
Cheap
and
expensive
The
price
of GBP
1,260
per
square
metre
is 12
per
cent
lower
than
the
price
of a
house
built
in traditional
technology
in Great
Britain,
and
20 per
cent
lower
as compared
to other
modular
systems.
The
prices
of demountable
buildings,
due
to the
fact
that
this
is a
much
more
structurally
complicated
product,
are
generally
higher
than
those
of traditional
construction
because
they
have
double
walls
and
ceilings.
The
method
for
constructing
such
buildings
forces
them
to be
more
rigid
in order
to be
able
to be
stored
on a
truck
and
transported,
for
example,
2,000
km.
This
has
to be
more
expensive.
"We
make
up for
this
by producing
in Poland,
where
we have
slightly
cheaper
materials
and
significantly
cheaper
labour,"
explains
Jacek
Michalski.
British
teachers,
nurses,
policemen
and
fire
fighters
have
benefited
from
the
cheap
Polish
labour.
They
are
unable
to afford
renting
apartments
on the
free
real
estate
market
in the
capital’s
city
centre.
And
since
these
are
key
employees
of the
public
sector,
the
authorities
of this
suburb
have
located
exactly
these
people
in the
first
Polish
modular
building
in London,
and
have
ensured
them
cheap
rent
- GBP
100
per
week.
On the
Isles,
cheap
apartments
are
allotted
not
to those
who
need
them,
but
to those
who
are
needed.
Preferential
rent
conditions
don’t
rule
out
their
buying
apartments
in the
future
- the
condition
for
gaining
a mortgage-secured
loan
in England
is the
minimal
sixty-year
durability
of the
building.
Buma’s
building
naturally
fulfils
these
criteria.
"Basing
on the
hitherto
interest
in the
Buma
Free-Dom
system,
we predict
orders
for
around
150
apartments
per
year.
Such
a positive
reaction
of the
London
market
is undoubtedly
the
result
of the
success
of Barling
Court,"
stated
Mike
Kirk,
Development
Director
for
the
Hyde
Group,
Buma’s
British
partner,
during
the
official
hand-over
of the
building
in November
last
year.
No
need
to demolish
Aside
from
orders
for
apartment
buildings,
Buma
also
receives
offers
for
constructing
modular
office
buildings
with
a surface
area
of 250-500
square
metres.
Those
interested
in such
constructions
are
companies
that
prefer
to have
headquarters
in their
own
buildings
rather
than
renting
expensive
office
spaces
in large
office
complexes.
Another
group
of Buma’s
clients
are
investors
in retirement
homes
to whom
the
cheap
modular
technology
appeals
as well.
It is
worth
remembering
that
land
in London
is so
expensive
that
local
developers
are
already
thinking
about
building
on temporarily
available
land,
e. g.
on the
plot
designated
for
the
future
second
runway
of Gatwick
Airport.
And
Buma’s
buildings,
which
can
be dismantled
and
moved
to another
location,
are
ideal
for
this
type
of temporary
construction.
However,
this
is just
the
beginning
of the
revolution.
"The
display
house
we used
at construction
fairs
had
been
dismantled
and
reassembled
nine
times
before
it was
sold
to a
client
and
settled
permanently
on a
plot
of land.
When
the
client’s
family
grows
he will
be able,
in ten
years
for
example,
to sell
the
house
to someone
else,
then
he can
order
a larger
house
from
us,
for
the
same
plot
of land,
and
the
whole
process
won’t
take
longer
than
a week.
"A
new
era
is beginning:
soon
we will
be able
to exchange
buildings
without
demolishing
them,"
states
Jacek
Michalski.
In order
for
this
new
era
to start
also
in Poland,
the
prices
of these
types
of houses
will
have
to fall
enough
to be
able
to compete
with
the
price
of traditional
construction,
not
just
in Great
Britain
but
in Poland
as well.
There
is a
chance
of this
happening
as Buma
is constructing
its
first
production
line
for
these
houses.
On the
14th
of April
Buma
System
and
british
Hyde
Group
signed
contract
for
construction
of 450
apartments
in Cracow.
The
value
of this
contract
is 15
min
british
pounds.
Paweł
Jasica
Translated
by Anna
Meysztowicz
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