UK, Hong Kong and New Zealand join prefab trend

With last year’s announcement that BoKlok will be expanding its modular home business model to the UK, Hong Kong and New Zealand have also announced exciting sustainable construction activities in their respective territories.

In 2020, BoKlok, a 50:50 joint venture partnership between Swedish companies IKEA and Skanska providing low-cost modular homes In Sweden have earmarked 400 units of modular homes to be built across three sites in the south and southwest of England, mainly in Worthing, Bristol and Peacehaven.

Now, in 2021, both New Zealand and Hong Kong are witnessing major movements in the otherwise unconventional construction practice which is slowly becoming a fast-adopted trend, replacing traditional brick and mortar.

In New Zealand, Panasonic Homes, has partnered up with the island’s largest house builder, Mike Greer Commercial, to develop a prefabricated three-bedroom prototype in the Waikato’s Te Kauwhata area.

According to Anna Filippova, New Zealand representative for Panasonic Home, “the business could build a house in around three months, whereas most New Zealand homes take around seven months.”

She adds that the business plans to build around 10 new terrace-style homes in Auckland’s Mt Roskill and that Panasonic Homes is committed to helping to grow New Zealand’s housing stock for the families who are in need of affordable homes.

In Hong Kong, the Hong Kong Science and Technology Parks Corporation (HKSTP) is creating a prefabricated housing project called InnoCell with 500 bed spaces by early 2022. The HK$800 million (RM449 million) gross development value project will offer a 17-storey building comprising solo and twin studio units with built ups ranging between 248 sq ft and 487 sq ft.

Simon Wong, Chief Project Development Officer of HKSTP says, “InnoCell is a residential project that serves as a supporting facility of HKSTP which aims to provide short-to-medium term accommodation and working space for select talent and incubates locally and internationally.”

He adds, “InnoCell is expected to be completed by the end of 2021 and will be ready for occupation in early 2022.”