11 June 2015
A new venture set to develop digital methods and tools that will help custom builders better manage the planning and design, customisation and sales, on-site construction and handover stages of new custom build homes is being masterminded by a number of key industry partners.
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‘Digitising Custom Build’ – which won a grant of £330,000 from Innovate UK in April – sees the National Custom and Self Build Association (NaCSBA) teaming up with online participation software provider Stickyworld along with HTA Design, Axis Design Architects, Facit Homes, Commusoft, and Slider Studio.
The aim of the project is to create an excellent customer journey which helps inform homebuyer choice and supports their continued involvement throughout the process. And the lynchpin of the venture is a cloud-based customer engagement platform which has been developed to create a new interface between home buyers, custom builders and the supply side. It is hoped that both homes earmarked for individual plots and large-scale developments will be able to benefit.
NaCSBA will support the project dissemination with a series of events and access to test the tools and help shape final project outputs. SliderStudio is building computer-aided design tools to help architects generate design menus. Axis Design Architects is testing the home user guide, incorporating an “Internet of Things” approach to energy efficiency. Facit Homes is improving training material for the site phase of custom build.
The new software tools will be put to the test in later phases of a 54-home custom build scheme by Carillion igloo at Heartlands in Pool, Cornwall. Here, the Digitising Custom Build team is working with architect HTA and housebuilder Potton Homes, one of six home manufacturer teams involved in the scheme. There will also be further trials conducted at additional sites run by Facit Homes.
Further information is set to appear on the NaCSBA website.
