Designing the future: L&Q funds offsite housing app

L&Q has joined forces with the Mayor of London, TfL, Legal & General Modular Homes and Greystar to fund an innovative new offsite housing app. 

The app, known as ‘Prism’, has the potential to transform construction projects by shaving weeks off the design process for offsite manufactured homes.

Prism is a unique new tool, which will allow developers to quickly evaluate the potential for building homes on a specific site, within planning rules and using existing products.

Using open-source software, users can design different structures on specific sites, and export 3D geometric drawings to other programmes.

Prism was developed by Bryden Wood, an off-site specialist, and consultant Cast. Crucially, the app will be made available to everyone free of charge. Manufacturers will be encouraged to add their own products to the programme.

The app will also function as a database, collecting information about which products are commonly used. This will help off-site manufacturers to develop standardised parts for homes.

L&Q, one of the UK’s largest housing associations, has embraced technological innovation as part of its ambition to tackle the housing crisis by building 100,000 homes over the next decade. 

The leading developer has developed its own Modern Methods of Construction (MMC) strategy, which will see all of its new homes built with some form of MMC by 2025, and its first entirely off-site manufactured home by 2028.

L&Q is an active member of the Advanced Industrialised Methods for the Construction of Homes (AIMCH) project, working with a range of sector partners to transform how homes are built. The group will be working on developing offsite solutions, with the goal of helping the housing sector deliver the tens of thousands of homes the UK needs to meet demand.

Wayne Hill, Construction Services Director at L&Q said, “As a major housebuilder, L&Q has the ability to help drive change in the sector by investing in new technologies to speed up construction. We see enormous potential in Prism and are delighted to have helped bring about this transformative new tool.”