st. hilda’s - osco homes · 2019. 1. 18. · st hilda’s scheme was logistically very difficult....

Another success forOsco Homes and

Together Housing

St. Hilda’s

OSCO homes-St Hildas_150119.qxp_Layout 1 15/01/2019 15:13

At Osco Homes we are delighted topresent St Hilda’s, a development of 7factory-built Houses (2 storey) forTogether Housing Group. The homesin Leeds, West Yorkshire, are thesecond to be constructed using ourinnovative off-site constructiontechniques that deliver high qualityhomes whilst developing a newworkforce for the future.

BackgroundAs one of Leeds City Council’s strategicPartners, Together Housing Associationhad previously completed FewstonCourt a scheme of 21 family homes forrent in 2015, which was very muchwelcomed, to what was a blightedarea, with ASB problems. St Hilda’sCrescent, was a strip of land betweenthe new homes previously developed,as part of the Cross Green regenerationplan and the railway line. It contained 3pairs of privately owned semi-detached homes, with derelict plotsbetween them that had been used asstorage and a site compound by aprevious contractor. Together HousingAssociation, working in partnershipwith Leeds Council, saw the potentialto finish the regeneration of the area,with high quality homes for affordablerent. The designs for the homesneeded to be in keeping with thesurrounding properties and so atraditional scheme was submittedthrough planning, but the constraintsof the site and lack of working areamade this a challenge. Already workingwith Osco Homes, Togetherapproached them to see how it couldbe delivered within the budgetconstraints of the project.


The Design – all in the planning.

Acanthus WSM Architects had beenappointed to the scheme by TogetherHousing and had achieved planningpermission with a design intended fortraditional construction. As this wasthe second scheme working togetherand there was some time before therequired start date, we were able tooptimise it for off-site, improving the

architectural details whilst optimisingthe cost. A great example of this wasthe introduction of a brick soldiercourse between the ground and firstfloor. This enabled us to enhance thetraditional brick style of the buildingand improve the build process – a winfor everyone!


Production design –eliminate the errors!The core structural element of thebuilding is light gauge steel (LGS). Priorto starting the manufacture process,the entire building was modelled in a3D environment, starting with the steelframes, boarding, cladding and evenincluding the fixings. The system thenran clash detection to eliminate likelyerrors in the kit of parts. This precisemanufacturing data is then sent to oursuppliers, who manufactured all thecomponent parts, complete with labeland references, ready for assembly atour factory facility.

Following on from the steel frameassembly, our factory team thencompleted the external finishes(Brick/Render/Cladding) which was alldriven by the detailed manufacturingassembly instructions again derivedfrom the 3D model.

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Gary Winterburn, GW Clerk of Works and Services Ltdsaid: “The process of construction speededup during the period of works.

This eliminated any lost time earlier in theprogramme. This time was caused in part bycontinuing heavy rainfall experienced.

However, once OSCO Homes became morefamiliar with the delivery and erectingprocess the team on site were capable oferecting wall & roof panels swiftly making theplots watertight allowing internal trades tobegin works.

By the end of the scheme completed plotswere being presented with very little defectsand workmanship quality was continuing toimprove.”


The manufacturing and constructionassembly of the St Hilda’s project followeda strict quality management processes. Ateach critical stage in a finished goods lifecycle, there was a check and sign offprocess, and this was tracked right theway through to completion.

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Andy Hatcliffe Major ProjectsManager at the NHBC commented“In terms of on-time delivery and aminimal number of reportable items, thisproject was very successful. The siteteam were a pleasure to work with,always attentive and keen to take onadvice and act upon it.”

Manufacturing, Construction and Assembly…Quality Assured

Unique IntegratedSocial ValueOur unique design for manufacture andassembly focusses on low skill labourrequirements, as we drive to engage thosemost distant from the labour market. Ouraim is to take people with limitedexperience or skill base, and in a shortperiod of time enable them to play anactive part in the delivery of one of ourhomes.

So how do we do this? The steel frames,come as a kit of parts, all cut, swaged andpre-drilled ready for simple assembly. Thedesign of the steel frames is what is oftenreferred to as Poke Yoke. This is a Japaneseterm which means ‘Mistake proofing’.

Put simply, those putting the framestogether cannot assemble the framesincorrectly, every section or part isdesigned to only fit together one way. Thisis a good example of how clever design andprocess management eliminates error,increases quality and allows low skilledoperatives to engage straight away andbuild their confidence.


The Construction Challenge

St Hilda’s scheme was logistically verydifficult. An infill site, sandwichedintermittently between a row ofexisting houses, narrow access routes,overhead telecommunication cablesand existing lamp posts to contendwith. There was also only enough roomfor a small site cabin and welfare area.

Minimising the level of disruption to

local residents was key, which is whythe speed of delivery for the completedunits and the lack of scaffolding was ahuge benefit.

Osco Homes completed the last pair ofsemi-detached homes from factory tofinished in 6 weeks with around 40% ofthe site man-hours when compared toa traditional build.

“ “Mrs Mia Fay Maudson a resident ofSt Hilda’s commented “My new home isnice and cosy, I would recommend anOsco House 100%.”


Final Handover

The Scheme was completed and readyfor handover within the projected time,and Together Housing took possessionof the units just one week later.

“ “Mohammad Badiee Project Manager commented: “The speed and quality achieved as thehomes came together towards the endof the project was impressive.”


Tel: 0303 030 0030

[email protected]

Duckworth HouseTalbot RoadOld TraffordManchesterM32 0FP

Osco Homes is a whollyowned subsidiary of Procure Plus Holdings Ltd, anot-for-profit regenerationcompany that providesmarket leading constructionframeworks for socialhousing providers andinvests the surplus intogetting those distant fromthe labour market intosustainable employment.

Procure Plus Holdings Ltd isa founder member ofReallies, a nationalcollaboration to delivergreater efficiency andpricing.


st. hilda’s - osco homes · 2019. 1. 18. · st hilda’s scheme was logistically very difficult....

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