Freeports are becoming a hot topic of conversation due to their potential to provide long-term job opportunities and positive impacts to local communities through increased investment that will boost the local economy. With Labour having previously committed £1.8bn to invest in the UK’s port infrastructure, what will the impact of this funding and drive to invest have on the construction industry?
Increasing construction to meet future demand
Naturally the acceleration in freeport investment means an uptick in construction – not just in terms of the ports and airports themselves, as they are expanded and modernised, but also the infrastructure around them.
Take our work with Manchester Airport, where we provided high quality rental offices and welfare facilities to support the £1bn redevelopment project’s 1,200 workers, creating dedicated space for focused work as well as space for the all-important downtime that is crucial to the success of large-scale infrastructure projects.
Facility: MUL:TIPLE office and wellbeing BUILDINGS
Total square metres provided: 2,000
Installation time: 9 days
Defined as ‘support spaces’, these are key to keeping a project of this size on track, providing a vital space for workers to meet, collaborate and – crucially – relax onsite.
To make this possible, we delivered four spacious buildings with high ceilings, PIR lighting and air conditioning to maximise comfort throughout.
Keeping freeports clean and green
Sustainability is also high on the government’s priority list as it settles into power, and the pressure is on to keep the country’s infrastructure projects moving, without them costing the earth – literally.
Modular construction is one way to instantly lower the embodied carbon of a construction project, whether that is for a permanent structure or for shorter term hire buildings. But how?
Modular construction:
- Uses safe, sustainable and recyclable materials such as timber.
- Is precision manufactured offsite, meaning zero waste goes to landfill.
- Is adaptable and reconfigurable to create a circular economy – hire buildings can easily be reused across projects and sites.
We have one of the largest fleets of hire buildings in the UK, ready to make your project more sustainable from day one.
Fast installation on challenging sites
It’s no secret that construction in and around busy ports and airports creates challenges in terms of speed, space and safety. These include:
- Port and airport workers operating in and around live construction sites.
- 24-hour operations, requiring careful planning to maximise construction at quieter times.
- Vehicle movement restrictions to and from sites.
- Equipment restrictions – for example, maximum crane heights.
Modular building comes into its own when tackling these issues, as our work at Manchester Airport demonstrated. Challenges to this build involved a constrained and busy airport site with transport access restrictions, crane height restrictions and reduced daylight hours due the project taking place over winter.
With the modular buildings designed and manufactured offsite, we were able to overcome these challenges, organising, transporting and installing these new, vital facilities in just nine days.
Find out more by getting in touch with our team today.
