Yorkon to present latest developments in off-site construction for schools at BSEC 09

Award-winning school building specialist and Portakabin subsidiary, Yorkon, will be demonstrating its cutting edge approach to off-site construction and a series of new developments in steel-framed modular building at BSEC 09.

Yorkon will be presenting an important innovation in modular technology – the new high performance floor option – believed to be the highest performing floor for any modular building.

This robust and proven pre-installed concrete floor is specifically designed for high traffic areas, such as school buildings, and will achieve a point load of 7kN and a UDL (uniformly distributed load) of 9kN/m2. It also offers enhanced acoustic performance, and all the speed and quality advantages of building off site.

In addition to the new floor option, Yorkon will be introducing its recently updated design tool, which helps architects and specifiers work with modular buildings for school applications.

Available in interactive pdf format via the Yorkon website – www.yorkon.com, this is a comprehensive guide to steel-framed modular construction, including module sizes and options for staircases and lifts. For CAD users, there are easy-to-use files to help architects develop a building design for a specific school project and produce fast and accurate project drawings.

Other new developments recently launched by Yorkon include a new suite of ‘greener’ design options for the use of renewable sources of energy, reduced energy consumption and waste, lower carbon emissions, and greater recyclability.

The optional features include ground and air source heat pumps, solar thermal heating, solar photovoltaics, passive ventilation, combined heat and power systems, green roofs, biomass boilers, and rainwater harvesting.

The Yorkon approach to off-site construction is highly sustainable. It will deliver higher quality education buildings on time and on budget and with less disruption to staff and pupils. It can reduce programme times by up to 50 per cent, is safer, more predictable and offers enhanced thermal efficiency for lower running costs.

Yorkon has an extensive track record in the education sector, having completed a wide variety of projects ranging from self-contained teaching blocks and classroom extensions for both primary and secondary schools and in the state and independent sectors, to complete schools, nursery buildings, and further education facilities.

Yorkon will be exhibiting at BSEC on stand 526 or visit www.yorkon.info.



For further PRESS information, please contact:

Joanne Bridges, PRO – Yorkon
Tel: 01489 570898
Fax: 01489 570888
Email: jbridges@bridgescommunications.co.uk

Editor’s Notes

1.Off-site construction involves the manufacture of steel-framed modules in a controlled factory environment, using production line technology, whilst the foundation works are completed on site. The modules are delivered to site by road where they are craned into position in just a few days ready for fitting out.

2.If you wish to publish a telephone number for further information, the number for Yorkon is 01904 610990. Please do not print the agency’s number.

Yorkon completes its largest scheme in the retail sector

Off-site construction specialists and Portakabin subsidiary, Yorkon, has completed its largest contract in the retail sector in the company’s 30-year history.

The £1.4m modular scheme at a Sainsbury’s superstore in Brentwood was completed with main contractors RG Group and reduced the programme time by four weeks.

Demand for the off-site approach in the retail sector continues to rise. Over the past year Yorkon’s turnover in the sector has increased significantly and projects now include extensions to superstores and back of house facilities as well as modular convenience stores for a number of leading food retailers.

The project for Sainsbury’s at Brentwood provided a new first floor extension for the store, accommodating a customer café, a lobby area to a new elevated car park, customer toilets and baby change, staff facilities and a bulk storage area for general merchandise.

Commenting on the Brentwood project, Richard Rust, Head of Construction and Delivery at Sainsbury’s said, “The off-site approach helped to reduce customer disruption and programme time on this project, and allowed the first floor extension to be completed a month earlier than with traditional construction.”

“By completing as much work as possible ‘off site’, we succeeded in keeping customer car parking to a maximum in this busy trading store. The relationship with RG Group and Yorkon worked well, and the module installation at the store was organised and efficient.”

42 steel-framed modules were manufactured by Yorkon off site in York and pre-fitted with internal partitions, sanitary ware, flooring, kitchen equipment, glazing, plumbing, electrics and brick cladding, prior to delivery to site. The modules were installed in just six days.

This scheme is the third project for Sainsbury’s completed by Yorkon and RG Group and follows superstore extensions at Chelmsford and Rayleigh Weir in Essex.

www.yorkon.info


For further PRESS information, please contact:

Joanne Bridges, Bridges Communications
PRO – Yorkon
Tel: 01489 570898, Fax: 01489 570888
Email: jbridges@bridgescommunications.co.uk


Editor’s Notes

1. The Yorkon approach to off-site construction offers a number of clear advantages over site-based building methods:

- enhanced thermal efficiency and greater sustainability
- greater design flexibility
- waste reductions of up to 90 per cent
- programme times reduced by up to 50 per cent
- greater cost control
- less disruption to existing operations and local residents
- safety improved by up to 46 per cent
- earlier occupation and a faster return on investment for the retailer
- guaranteed quality
- less risk for the client – more than 96 per cent of Yorkon projects have been completed on time and 94 per cent on budget over the past five years – well exceeding construction industry averages

2. Off-site construction involves the manufacture of steel-framed modules in a controlled factory environment, using production line technology, whilst the foundation works are completed on site. The modules are delivered to site by road where they are craned into position in just a few days ready for the final stages of fitting out. /

Yorkon achieves environmental accreditation

Award-winning off-site construction specialist, Yorkon, has announced that as part of the Portakabin Group, it has achieved ISO 14001 accreditation – the internationally recognised standard for reducing impact on the environment.

Certification was achieved by the Portakabin Group, which includes Yorkon, following a rigorous independent assessment of the company’s environmental policy, compliance with legislation, control systems and procedures, and targets for further improving environmental performance.

David Johnson, Director and General Manager of Yorkon, said, “Environmental impact is an increasingly important global issue and it is essential that all organisations, particularly in the construction industry, are committed to minimising the effect of their activities on the environment.”

“This accreditation is a powerful tool that allows organisations to focus their environmental efforts on internationally-accepted criteria and promote best practice. It is a proactive solution to improving both environmental performance and enhancing business efficiency.”

“As a business, we are working on many levels to continually improve sustainability. Initiatives include reducing waste in the construction process through off-site manufacturing; increasing the recyclability of waste by employing intelligent design and production methods; the manufacture of buildings which are highly thermally efficient, and the use of new technologies and innovations for ‘greener’ modular buildings.”

Yorkon has also recently launched a series of new design options for ‘greener’ modular buildings, which offer significant environmental benefits, including the use of renewable sources of energy, reduced energy consumption and carbon emissions, and recyclability.

The optional features include solar thermal heating, solar photovoltaics, passive ventilation, combined heat and power systems, ground and air source heat pumps, wind power, green roofs, biomass boilers, and rainwater harvesting. Some of these options have already been used in buildings provided by Yorkon, such as a recent project at Bewdley High School in Worcestershire – believed to be the UK’s most sustainable modular school building.

As part of the Portakabin Group, Yorkon was the first off-site specialist to commit to working towards the Sustainability Charter introduced by the Major Contractors Group and, the Group has worked with the Carbon Trust to reduce the amount of energy used in the manufacturing process.

http://www.yorkon.info/

For further PRESS information, please contact:

Joanne Bridges, Bridges Communications
PRO – Yorkon
Tel: 01489 570898
Fax: 01489 570888
Email: jbridges@bridgescommunications.co.uk

Editor’s Notes

1.If you would be interested in an article about the sustainability benefits of off-site construction, please let us know. We would be happy to discuss your editorial requirements.

2.Modular construction offers a wide range of sustainability advantages, including:
-Less waste - off-site construction generates up to 90 per cent less waste compared to site-based building methods (source: WRAP)
-Reduced energy consumption - up to 67 per cent less energy is required to produce a modular building compared to an equivalent traditionally built project (source: Arup)
-Reduced congestion and carbon emissions - up to 90 per cent fewer vehicle movements to site (source: Mtech)
-Greater thermal efficiency and lower running costs - Yorkon buildings are highly thermally efficient and consistently perform up to 70 per cent better than Building Regulations requirements in full-scale tests for air permeability in line with Part L2A.

3.If you wish to publish a telephone number for further information, the number for Yorkon is 01904 610990. Please do not print the agency’s number.