Modular For Crisis And Transitional Housing

Crisis accommodation is needed now, and conventional construction cannot deliver now.

Which is the first reason factory construction fits this sector. The second is that the buildings take harder use than almost any other housing type, and durability is decided at specification rather than discovered at the first turnover.

Speed, and what actually causes it

The programme advantage is not that the building goes up faster. It is that two things happen at once.

Site works, approvals and service connections run while the dwellings are being fabricated. On a conventional build those are sequential. The mechanism is explained in [why modular programmes run shorter](/blog/why-modular-programmes-run-shorter).

Which on a crisis housing project frequently means the difference between dwellings available this financial year and dwellings available in two years.

Short tenure sites

A lot of crisis and transitional housing sits on land available for a defined period: a site awaiting redevelopment, a lease of a few years, or land held for a future purpose.

That is the specific case where a relocatable design earns its cost. The dwellings are built to be lifted, moved and reinstalled, so the end of the land arrangement is not the end of the asset.

The trade-offs are real and they are not small, which is why the decision gets made at the start rather than retrofitted. They are set out in [relocatable versus permanent modular](/blog/relocatable-versus-permanent-modular).

Durability is the design brief

A crisis dwelling may house dozens of households over its life, with high turnover, intensive use and limited opportunity for maintenance between occupancies.

Which changes almost every selection.

**Linings** that resist impact rather than only looking clean, with corner protection where trolleys, bags and furniture move through.

**Floor finishes** that can be cleaned hard, repeatedly, and repaired in sections. The reasoning is the same as [flooring selection in an accessible dwelling](/blog/flooring-selection-in-an-accessible-dwelling) with turnover added.

**Door hardware and locks** rated for commercial use, not residential, because a residential lockset in this setting fails within a year.

**Tapware and sanitary fittings** chosen for serviceability, with parts available and replaceable without removing tiles.

**Joinery** fixed rather than freestanding, with hardware that survives being used without care.

The selection framework is in [internal linings and finishes selection](/blog/internal-linings-and-finishes-selection), with the specification moved up a level.

Security and safety

Crisis accommodation frequently houses people leaving an unsafe situation, which makes security a design requirement rather than a feature.

Controlled entry, sightlines from the entry to where staff are, lighting at the approach and the car park, window and door hardware that can be secured from inside, and no concealed approach to a dwelling entry.

And internal safety: a layout without dead ends, egress that works for somebody unfamiliar with the building, and the provisions described in [emergency egress in supported accommodation](/blog/emergency-egress-in-supported-accommodation).

Support provision

Most transitional housing comes with support, and the building has to accommodate the support model.

Which means asking early whether staff are on site, whether there is an office or a meeting space, whether support is delivered in the dwelling or in a shared facility, and whether there are shared laundry, kitchen or communal areas.

Those answers change the building type entirely, from self-contained dwellings to a facility with shared spaces, and they cannot be resolved after the design is fixed.

Whole of life, not first cost

A dwelling in this sector is assessed on what it costs to run and to turn over, not on what it cost to build.

A specification one level up front, in finishes, hardware and fittings, pays back in the first few turnovers. A specification chosen on first cost produces a dwelling that is being repaired continuously and is out of service while it is.

That arithmetic is the whole of [maintenance and whole of life costs](/blog/maintenance-and-whole-of-life-costs), and in crisis accommodation it runs faster than anywhere else.

Our standards. Discuss a project.

MADEmodular / MADEbetter.