I was recently fortunate enough to be invited to a factory tour of a prominent manufacturer within the industry. It’s an admittedly fun part of the job, that provides peak behind the curtain and a real look into how things are made.

While this factory has been built to produce tiles, and the manufacturer is traditionally known for being in that bricks, blocks and tiles space, it’s by no means the only offering the company has.

Over the years, this manufacturer, along with other key construction players, has dramatically increased the breadth and depth of products it has under its sleeve. Where it was once just able to offer some individual elements that are used in a house, it has graduated to an entire roof system that gives you everything you could ever need, even Solar PV and battery storage, which is guaranteed for 15 years. Beyond that, it is now offering a whole house system that can be used for new build or retrofit.

These services represent a shift that seems to have reached the construction industry, where manufacturers are increasingly focused on solutions and systems rather than individual products. Think of it as looking at how the pieces of a jigsaw puzzle relate to the overall image on a box, rather than just staring at an individual piece and hoping it fits where you’ve put it. Why the change, you may ask. Well, our industry is one that’s going through an extreme transformation period. You’re probably all sick to death of hearing about the Future Homes Standard and Net Zero 2050 goals, but they are on the way. If we’re going to be capable of delivering these new requirements, the ways in which we work are going to have to keep changing, as we try to meet stricter energy efficiency criteria.

At the same time, other restrictions are tightening. The Building Safety Act requires a Golden Thread of information, one that backs up each decision made and is designed to prevent tragedies like that of Grenfell Tower. It’s this, along with savvier homeowners with evolving sensibilities that creates the need for guarantees, EPDs and all the rest. Bills have never been higher. Couple that with a cost of living crisis and a troubled homebuying market and the result is potential buyers who want to ensure they’re getting their money’s worth.

It must be said that it’s not just down to the new build market to transform our housing stock. The word retrofit seems to have this bogeyman quality to it. But it doesn’t have to.

Despite what the naysayers proclaim, heat pumps can work in pre existing homes. In fact, I went to a friend’s house in Leeds recently. We got on the topic of sustainable heating and I oh so assuredly claimed that they’d never be able to get a heat pump to work in this house (early 20th century, high ceilings and a small back garden among other things). I was smugly told to go out the back door and look above the kitchen window, where they’d deftly installed one. The builder they’d worked with had treated the house like a problem to solve, rather than something broken that was impossible to fix. With extra insulation, solar PV and battery storage, they’re now more than future ready.

While there will be homes out there that will really struggle to get a heat pump going and see the benefits of it, the conversation doesn’t need to stop there. With whole house approaches, there’s a vast wealth of homes waiting to be upgraded, not just built from scratch.

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PHPD visits Haddonstone, the family-owned cast stone manufacturer

The consistent use of stone in construction goes back longer than records themselves. Indeed, from castles and pyramids to churches and cottages, it is a material that has always been as prized for its strength as its beauty. This long history doesn’t just go for natural stone either. Cast stone has a storied history of its own. In fact, the use of cast stone as a structural material dates back thousands of years to ancient Rome, where pozzolanic cement was used along with other natural aggregates. Many important buildings and structures were created using this new combination of building material, including the vaulted arches and gateways of Rome’s Colosseum and the large span dome of Athens’ Pantheon. Now, in modern housebuilding, and as potential homeowners place increasing value on aesthetics, it seems to be having more and more of a resurgence.

As David Barrow, Chairman of Haddonstone, former MD for over 40 years and son of the company’s founder, puts it: “Housebuilding in the 21st century is as much about creating quality places in which people want to live, as it is about the construction itself. We are all encouraged to value sustainability, quality and ‘kerb appeal’, as much as functionality and space. So, it’s no surprise that we are seeing a resurgence of interest in beautiful, traditional and classical architecture. This is where Haddonstone has always excelled – in manufacturing authentic and high-quality cast stonework for both new build properties, and in restoration and replication projects.”

Quality first

The first thing you’re struck by when visiting the East Haddon production site is the dedication to quality. Don’t expect to find an army of robots mass producing one simple template again and again. Haddonstone, while embracing new tools of assistance, is most certainly a man-made operation. The company’s offering comes in three different versions:

Haddonstone (semi-dry cast limestone)

This is a unique form of cast limestone, with a surface texture, feel and strength similar to Portland or natural limestone. The principal materials for this are limestone, white cement and sand, a mix which has a feel of damp sand or earth. This stone is packed into the mould either by hand or a pneumatic hand rammer. No finishing is required with this material due to the quality of the mould manufacture and casting, resulting in a look that’s virtually indistinguishable from natural quarried stone and weathers beautifully. The vapour curing process gives the stone the equivalent of 14 days’ strength overnight, which results in reduced delivery lead times and improved handling.

TecStone (wet-cast limestone)

Denser than the standard Haddonstone, TecStone is made of much larger particle sizes and exhibits a higher water content. Vapour curing isn’t required but hand finishing is necessary at the end to ensure a high quality product. The TecStone mix is poured into a mould. This process gives a finish, once acid etched, much more akin to honed limestone. It has a smooth and sealed surface, which makes it ideal for flooring, fireplaces, complex statuary, larger architectural products and contemporary designs where clients prefer a surface finish that does not weather quickly. Importantly, it can incorporate structural reinforcement and cast-in fixings.

TecLite (fibre-reinforced)

This revolutionary cement-based material contains alkaliresistant glass fibre (Glass Fibre Reinforced Concrete). Although it closely resembles cast stone in appearance, the use of thin wall construction teamed with GRC/GFRC technology means the component weight is reduced by approximately two thirds when compared with similar Haddonstone and TecStone pieces. Robust and lightweight, TecLite can be used in conjunction with Haddonstone architectural components.

Customer focus

Haddonstone boasts a vast and ever-growing catalogue of moulds (both for ornamental and architectural pieces) that are expertly maintained and remade when required. Its real beauty, however, comes with its flexibility. The company has a fantastic team who are consistently working with housebuilders to create bespoke moulds for projects which are assembled in an impressive workshop of expert joiners. It’s this dedication to quality and a working relationship with customers that keeps housebuilders coming back for future builds.

For more information, please visit www.rdr.link/dbf031

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The Labour Government has ushered in another new era for housebuilding in the UK, and at a time when addressing the housing shortage has never been more in the spotlight. Here, Andrew Carpenter, Chief Executive of the Structural Timber Association (STA), delves deeper into the government’s commitments, and how timber frame can support them.

Housing was a key part of the pledge that Keir Starmer and the Labour Party made to the UK, going as far as to declare themselves as the ‘party of ownership’, promising to build 1.5 million homes at the rate of at least 300,000 homes per year. In addition, in her opening speech as Chancellor of the Exchequer, Rachel Reeves further bolstered the Government’s commitment to housing, announcing that it will reinstate mandatory housing targets for Local Planning Authorities (LPA).

Similarly, Deputy Prime Minister Angela Rayner ascertained that in line with housing targets, local authorities must consider, ‘how to deliver new homes, not whether to’, which leads to the important conclusion that houses must be built quickly and with sustainability in mind. If UK home seekers and housebuilders are to truly benefit from the opportunity of more homes built more sustainably, then the use of structural timber is crucial. From a lower carbon footprint to lower energy use, faster build, and enhanced quality, there are many valid reasons to switch.

While a fundamental change is required, the existing manufacturing infrastructure is well established with structural timber manufacturers across the UK investing and evolving for growth. The sector can deliver 100,000 homes per year at current capacity, a third of the Government’s target of 300,000 annually. Large housebuilders like Vistry, Taylor Wimpey, Barratt Developments, Cala Homes and Avant Homes have also invested in either their timber frame factories or partnerships with existing manufacturers. Ultimately, there is a demand for structural timber as the wider industry realises the benefits it brings.

As manufacturing in other industries has evolved to automation, quality controls, speed and increased capacity, so too has structural timber manufacturing. Automation has led the way to precisionengineered, high-quality products, delivered just in time to the site, ready to erect with little or no waste. The faster build improves overall project timescales and costs while reducing the need for additional skilled labour on site. At a time when bricklayers are at a premium, a structural timber build enables two homes to be completed with the same bricklaying resource that one masonry house requires. The UK has a key opportunity to change the face of housebuilding for the future, delivering 1.5 million homes and doing so in a way that will help us achieve net zero. The message to any housebuilders not yet utilising timber is to not waste any more time. Structural timber manufacturers and SME supply chains are already well equipped to deliver 100,000 timber frame homes a year, and the demand is even greater than that. The STA exists to serve the timber industry and its members, providing insight, guidance, advice and information on every aspect of the process.

We urge the Government to renew the commitment to increasing the use of timber in the Timber in Construction Policy Roadmap, published by DEFRA in December last year – some important progress has already been made and we must continue this momentum.

For information and guidance on transitioning to building in timber frame, speak to the STA

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