Apex House, Europe?s tallest modular tower, showcases prefab?s power to go green and save money With London?s growth pushing the city skyward, news that a 28-story dorm just topped out won?t grab many people?s attention. But look beyond the facade of the Apex House, a soon-to-be-completed example of the benefits of modular construction, and suddenly the project becomes a lot more noteworthy.
According to Rory Bergin, an architect with the UK firm HTA Design, which designed the project, the building exemplifies the economical and environmental advantages of this style of construction. The volumetric assembly style has been called ?scaled-up Lego bricks,? and offers a speedy, cost-effective way to add dense, vertical housing to cities.
?We want to emphasize that these are buildings with good design first,? he says. ?Emphasizing the nature of the manufacturing is secondary.? Assembled at a factory in Bedford, 15 miles outside of the capital?every individual room was pre-made, with furniture and decorations as well as the bed and closet already installed before it left the assembly line?the 560-room student dorm was built a year faster than a similar-sized structure using traditional methods, and is now the tallest modular tower in Europe.
After the concrete core was put together on site in the London borough of Brent, modules, or ?boxes,? were trucked in and then assembled atop a concrete base, with a facade of glass-reinforced concrete panels added for the final touch...