Make Offsite Manufacturing Part Of The Cyclone Recovery Response

A recognised leader in the home building industry is calling for modular housing to be part of the Government’s cyclone recovery response.

“Fast action is needed to ease the suffering of people affected by Cyclone Gabrielle flooding - and modular housing could get many flood-stricken families into new homes faster,” according to Niche Modular Construction Chief Executive Dave Andrew. “We could have hundreds of flood-affected families living in comfortable, healthy modular homes by the end of the year. “

After more than a decade at the top of some of New Zealand’s best known home building companies, Dave Andrew made the move from traditional building to offsite manufacturing of modular houses.

“More than 10,000 people have been forced out of their homes because of the cyclone, and many of them don’t have any idea where they will be living for the rest of this year, let alone next year. Conventional building methods can’t possibly respond to the sheer scale of the challenge – we have to think outside the box,” Dave Andrew says.

High quality modular homes can be built in a factory and put on site in just 12 weeks, rather than the 12 months it takes for a conventional build. “When you combine that speed with the ability to pick up and move modular accommodation to where it is most needed, then we have we have a cyclone recovery solution.

“Modular housing manufactured offsite addresses the problem without creating a new problem of its own. We can build modular accommodation for tradespeople in the worst affected areas, then those workers can make hundreds more units for locals whose homes need repair or have been written off,” he says.

“The situation is so serious that we have to consider all options and all combinations of options. Units manufactured in a nearby factory and craned into place are a neat solution to a serious problem. This could be combined with conventional building, flat packs, you name it.”

Dave Andrew says his company has already been approached by iwi, an insurance company and a building supply company – all keen to explore options for cyclone recovery. He believes the ideal solution is for a building supply company and an offsite manufacturing company to be side by side “then we could really start pumping out homes for locals.”

Niche is already identifying suitable factory spaces in the worst affected areas and has equipment standing by ready to be moved.

“As soon as we get signed contracts in place, we can bring in accommodation and workers from outside the region in just six weeks, and they can then start building accommodation for local communities.

“The land could come from the Government, iwi, council, or it could be privately owned land. We can also build homes for individuals.

“We are primed and ready to go. All that’s standing in the way of us starting work is signed contracts. That’s the message we are taking to the all-of-government Cyclone Recovery Unit and the Cyclone Recovery Taskforce,” Dave Andrew says.

Media contact: Dave Andrew, Ph 021 616 629

About Niche Modular Construction:

• Niche Modular builds affordable, healthy and sustainable modular units in an offsite factory, before craning them on to the site where they are needed. The units are designed to be joined together to create larger buildings.
• The company is based in Petone, where it manufactures modular units for residential, education and commercial customers.
• It is currently the Ministry of Education’s preferred supplier of offsite manufactured buildings for the lower North Island, produces residential units for a retirement living provider and builds homes for individual customers.

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