Off-site construction strategy DfMA sees glazing added to concrete panels

Bennett Architectural are big advocates of off-site construction strategy DfMA (Design for Manufacture and Assembly) having used it on three large projects to date. As the Autumn 2017 Budget by the Government detailed, off-site construction is set to become more and more pivotal for large-scale construction projects going forward. The construction industry takes up 53% of the entire UK emissions, methods such as DfMA can reduce this substantially.

Bennett Architectural was one of the first glazing companies to use DfMA when we it was appointed to provide curtain walling and glazing for the Maternity and Oncology buildings at the University Hospital of North Midlands in Stoke-on-Trent. Glazing was transported to main contractor Laing O’Rourke’s Explore Industrial Park in Worksop, where windows were installed into concrete panels before being installed at the hospital.

More recently, DfMA was used for the redevelopment of West Cumberland Hospital and the new Dumfries and Galloway Hospital which opened its doors in December 2017. Bennett Architectural will undertake its biggest DfMA project to date, providing high quality glazing solutions for the £350m New Grange Hospital in Cwmbran, South Wales. Bennetts will work alongside main contractor Laing O’Rourke, supplying and installing Kawneer AA100 curtain walling systems, doors and windows. Design for Manufacture and Assembly (DfMA) will be used to add glazing to concrete panels off-site at Laing O’Rourke’s Explore Industrial Park before being transferred to Cwmbran.

Lionel Grant, MD at Bennett Architectural commented: “This is the biggest DfMA project we have taken on so far, but we have no doubt our multi-talented team will make light work of it. We have previously worked with Laing O’Rourke on three similar hospital projects in Staffordshire, Cumbria and Dumfries using DfMA, which has many construction and environmental benefits.”

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