Offsite solutions secures £1.7m project for UWE Bristol

Offsite Solutions has been awarded its second student living contract at the University of the West of England (UWE)’s Frenchay Campus in Bristol.

The £1.7m project will see the  UK-based bathroom pod manufacturer produce 757 bathroom pods for Vinci.

Designed to provide a level of comfort for students while using minimal energy for heating and cooling, the specification of Offsite Solutions aims to help UWE Bristol and Vinci meet their environmental aspirations.

The buildings aim to yield a reduction of around 50% in running costs and carbon emissions. To help achieve this, the cold water pipework in the bathroom pods will be insulated and the thermostatic shower and mixer taps for the hand basins are designed to run at lower temperatures. Both of these measures will reduce energy consumption.

The shower pods have a robust and low maintenance glass reinforced plastic construction. Each will be fully finished in the manufacturer’s Somerset factory and will be fitted with a D-shaped wall-mounted hand basin, wall-hung toilet with dual flush, thermostatic shower, and sliding shower door.

Steve O’Leary, regional business services manager at Vinci, said, “I have managed the procurement and delivery of around 3,500 pods manufactured by Offsite Solutions in the past nine years. Their approach suits Vinci Building’s model of student accommodation very well. They have robust factory testing processes in place which mean the quality is better and more consistent.

“This solution reduces the numerous trades for bathroom construction to a single supplier, which results in a considerable time saving. Each bathroom typically takes around three weeks to construct traditionally, whereas with offsite manufacturing, we just have to position the pods, make connections, and hang the doors.” 

Offsite Solutions has delivered 16 pod projects for Vinci. This includes student accommodation schemes for universities in Swansea, Cardiff, Coventry, and Liverpool.