Innovation Village, Gateshead

Location: Gateshead
Client: Home Group
Status: Completed 2019

Project Description:

IDPartnership, along with the consultant team of Fairhurst and Sine Consulting, are currently in the process of delivering an experimental and innovative housing development for client Home Group. Following a successful design and planning process, works have commenced on site. Collaborating closely with main contractor Engie, IDP have prepared a full suite of detailed design information for the various unit types being used throughout the development.

The development uses six different building typologies:
• Traditional - Brick and Block Construction
• Intelligent Steel – Panelised Light Gauge Steel
• Xella – Panelised Concrete units
• Ilke – Offsite Modular Housing
• Premier Modular – Offsite Modular Housing
• Simply Modular – Offsite Modular Housing

Alongside this, the development also utilises four different M&E Strategies:
• Ground Source Heat Pumps
• Air Source Heat Pumps
• Electric Storage Heaters
• Infrared Panel Heaters

And finally, a number of the units are provided with an enhanced building fabric. It is hoped, by assessing and reviewing different combinations of the above variables alongside short, medium and long term monitoring, all parties involved will be able to gain invaluable insight from a cost, flexibility, buildability, speed, quality and liveability perspective.

In the course of this work IDP partnered with Northumbria University on research into promoting “independence through technology enabled modular homes” for which it won an RICS award in 2019 and MMC Innovation and Sustainability Awards at CENE 2020.

As a result, the development is expected to inform Home Group’s forward planning aimed at achieving their goal of building 10,000 homes by 2021 /2022.