St Andrews House | ZED PODS

St. Andrews House

A social housing development of 6 zero operational carbon homes.

ZED PODS in partnership with Mid Devon District Council, we have designed and delivered this zero-carbon social-rent modular homes (6 apartments — a mixture of 1 and 2 beds) on a council-owned site previously occupied by garages and car parking in Cullompton (St.Andrews Estate).We brought forward this development on constrained site using our innovative off-site volumetric construction. Traditional build methods would not work on this scheme.

Project Information

Client: Mid Devon District Council (MDDC)

Location: St. Andrews Estate, Cullompton

Building Solution: Permanent

Scope of works: Full Turnkey Service (RIBA Stage 0 – 7)

Status: Construction Complete

Project Team

Funding Supports

Sustainability Overview

Est. Carbon Savings*: 10 tonnes / year

Est. Water Savings*: 107,690 litres / year

* Carbon savings calculated using SAP calculated Dwelling emission rates (DER) against the building regulations Part-L Target Emissions Rates (TER); ** Baseline water consumption based on England Compliance of 125L/person/day

©ZED-PODS-Limited_www.zedpods.com_St.Andrews-House-Lifting-Day-1.jpg

Our partnership with ZED PODS for the district’s first modular, carbon neutral homes embrace this approach and means we can support our most vulnerable residents to access good quality housing, which meets their needs.

Mike Lowman

Mid Devon District Council

Brief

Building affordable & energy-efficient homes

Mid Devon District Council (MDDC) has a vision to meet their housing needs and aspirations of their residents through a greater choice of high-quality new and adapted homes. This will help the council to support the social wellbeing needs of everyone who lives in Mid Devon and provide high quality growth in a high-quality environment.

Building affordable & energy-efficient homes remains a big problem for MDDC and relying on traditional construction is not the solution. They also wanted to build them as fast as possible and meet their ambition towards being carbon zero by 2030.

Full Turnkey
Process

ZED PODS brought forward this development on constrained site using our innovative off-site volumetric construction.

By carrying out the full turnkey Design & Build process, we worked closely with MDDC & key stakeholders at every stage of decision making from design to planning and will follow the same from manufacturing to installation.

Using 3D BIM software and establishing a multidisciplinary project team has helped to smoothen our misconceptions and overcome any barriers and set up the expectations. This project proves early collaboration and joint working helps to speed up the design and planning phases, as the project achieved planning in 3 months.

The Offsite MMC Solution

Be Lean: reduce energy demand

Be Clean: supply energy efficiently

Be Green: use renewable energy

We have digitally modelled every home in detail before production. The modules were completed up to 90% in factory environment, significantly minimising onsite installation time. As a result, the houses were delivered fully assembled, causing minimal disruption to neighboring properties and enabling new residents to move in promptly. By standardising and simplifying our design and construction process, we have increased the quality and productivity whilst driving down costs.

Set-Backs and Key Distances

The Massing has been set 35.3m back from St.Andrews Road towards the nearby estate, following the same dual pitched roof orientation continuing the topology of the crescent of housing. There is at least a 14m minimum corner to corner and 25.2m façade to facade distance to nearby neighbours.

Transport Strategy

The transport strategy utilises the existing road and footpath connections proposing minimal changes. The row of garages will be replaced by off road open parking bays. Access to the units will be via an enclosed stair core and external walkway. There has also been space allocated for secure cycle parking.

Strategic Views

Given the overlooked nature of the St.Andrews Road facing gable wall a public art work will be commissioned creating a visible landmark for many nearby residents. Views into the site from the car park will be screened with hedgerow planting. All primary living spaces will have windows looking over the long views down the hill.

Accommodation Mix

The units comprise an equal mix of single storey 1 and 2 bed flats connected via an integrated staircase. Two bed units are located away from the road allowing a larger gap between the balconies and the adjacent back garden to reduce overlooking.

Environmental
Performance

The units are designed and detailed to be both highly energy efficient & zero-operational-carbon in operation, to secure residents the lowest possible running costs.

Offsite MMC increase building performance to meet zero carbon standards. Every unit has superior insulated and airtight construction with less than 1.3 air changes per hour @ 50 PA. Low energy heating systems with high performance averaging COP of 3.5. Factory fitted Solar PV with 2.6 kW’s per apartment generates more energy than is consumed annually. Achieving “zero operational carbon” with SAP ratings of over 100+.