‘Defining the Need’ – What are the key insights and how will they provide a solution?

From the Department for Education (DfE), Department for Health and Social Care (DHSC), Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government (MHCLG), Ministry of Justice (MoJ) and the Ministry of Defence (MoD). 

‘Defining the Need’, the initial project phase, conducted data analysis on this pipeline to capture customer needs, objectives and trends to develop and inform their platform strategy. It also identified areas of commonality and difference across the cross-departmental pipeline to see which characteristics of the platform systems can be applied to the public sector estate. 

Of the £50 billion new build pipeline, the Hub found that at least £35 billion worth of projects could be created using a platform system. It also saw that more than 50% of space types, hallways, bathrooms and storage, aren’t sector specific and could be delivered with a standard platform solution for efficiency and productivity. 

38% of the spaces within the new build pipeline will be for the Residential sector, presenting an opportunity for the private sector. If the proposed platform system demonstrates that it can build beautiful, sustainable and better quality homes then it could potentially be used to deliver, not just homes, but student accommodation, hospitals and hotels. 

Another key finding was that buildings need to be highly adaptive so they can be repurposed across the required 60-year service life. The government is also committed to bringing a reduction in emissions to net zero by 2050. This means that all new buildings, especially those within the pipeline, need to align with this commitment and make sure that they’re sustainable.

If you take a look at companies like Thurston’s across the UK, this is what we’re already doing. We’re continuously innovating to be able to deliver sustainable buildings for a variety of sectors at a reduced whole-life cost and reduced speed. Our buildings are also adaptable. Whichever sector you’re in, if you need an office or are delivering a hotel, our buildings are able to be adapted, repurposed and moved. 

During the open call for evidence at the beginning of 2019, the Institution of Civil Engineers said, “In order to encourage the adoption and implementation of the P-DfMA approach, each relevant government department must first examine its own technical standards. Having a consistent and streamlined set of standards and components in this way would enable the market to respond more effectively, particularly if the industry is brought into the process early.”

Aligning all of these trends and insights is important and an important step in innovating the Construction industry. The work demonstrates how the government can harmonise, digitise and rationalise demand in line with the policies in the Construction Playbook.

The next and final part in the series concludes the findings and looks ahead to the future to see how the platform design solution can be implemented to improve efficiency and productivity in the construction industry.

Want to catch up on the other pieces in our series? Head back to our Updates page to find the last two pieces in time for next week.