Oregon Timber Frame, part of Barratt Redrow, has built on its expansion in Derby and Selkirk with a record year of manufacturing timber frame kits for sustainable homes.
The housebuilder opened a new £45million timber frame factory in the East Midlands and invested a further £24million to expand its existing facility in Selkirk in the Scottish borders as part of its plans to scale up its off-site construction.
This has led to an increase in the number of timber frame kits produced in 2024 to almost 4,000, a 26% increase on the year earlier. Oregon aims to boost its manufacturing further across both sites in 2025, with over 5,500 homes expected to be built from timber frame kits.
Over time, the housebuilder aims to build some 9,000 of the 22,000 homes it expects to build each year using timber frame kits.
Barratt Redrow purchased Oregon, one of the largest timber frame manufacturers, in 2019 to support its planned increase in the number of homes that it can build off-site. The developer’s increase in building using Modern Methods of Construction will help enable it to meet the 2025 Future Homes Standard, cut carbon emissions, reduce waste by around 30% and minimise disruption to local communities, whilst overcoming the on-site skills shortage in the construction sector.
Peter Wade, joint managing director at Oregon, said: “The significant investment by Barratt Redrow in new manufacturing facilities, jobs and skills at Oregon has reaped rewards for customers and the environment. We’ve been able to manufacture more homes in our state-of-the-art factories, which use sustainable timber, are precision-built and most importantly, enable a greater depth of insulation to be added to make homes warmer and cheaper to run.
“Added to this, by increasing our use of modern methods of construction, Barratt Redrow continues to move further along the road to becoming net zero carbon.”
Peter Wade added: “The timber frame system has evolved thanks to decades of research and development. Every timber frame structure is designed by a timber designer and structural engineer and the technique is enhanced by computer engineering. Detailed 3D modelling enables us to test the structure within a computer program before the foundations are laid. Added to this, unlike traditional methods of construction, timber frame homes can be constructed in a couple of days in all weathers, which is a big advantage in the UK winters.”
