Project Etopia is building a development of 31 houses and 16 apartments on a site in Corby, Northamptonshire, using modular prefabricated components.
The superstructures of the first three-storey townhouses were completed in just 34 days, the company says, and the first house — the scheme’s showhome — has now been decorated and furnished.
The homes at Etopia Corby in Priors Hall Park uses a combined heat supply system using solar energy and heat pumps (CHESS SETUP). They have solar panels to generate energy, a GeoStore system to store heat energy and batteries to store electricity. Ground source heat pumps deliver hot water and heating.
The factory-made wall panels have a thermal efficiency U-value of 0.13, which is superior to the 0.16 U-value for a typical well-insulated wall in a new build brick property, Etopia says.
The energy efficiency is expected to similar to the Passivhaus standard.
Community interest company Electric Corby first devised plans for energy self-sufficient homes at Priors Hall Park in 2013, and gained planning permission in 2016. Project Etopia bought the site in 2018 after the project stalled and the company broke ground in December 2018.
Project Etopia chief executive Joseph Daniels said: “Opening the doors to the completed house for the first time was an exciting moment for the whole team. It’s the realisation of months of hard work.
“When prospective buyers visit, we expect they will be surprised to learn these homes are all modular. There are no obvious giveaways and they look just like any other modern, spacious property, with a lot of natural light and outside space. The fact they use the latest off-site construction techniques is hard to discern, inside and out.
“The Corby site is currently at different stages of construction and progressing well but we’re now ready to welcome our first prospective buyers into the showhome and we are really looking forward to blowing them away.
“This house is evidence that modular housing delivers desirable homes for everyone in no time at all, with all the cost, labour and time savings that help us keep prices at an affordable level.”
Got a story? Email news@theconstructionindex.co.uk
