Taylor Lane Timber Frame is pleased to announce that the Defence Infrastructure Organisation (DIO) housing scheme across Salisbury Plain Training Area is now complete.
In a little over two and half years, main contractor Lovell, alongside the DIO and supply chain partners have delivered 917 high-quality, modern homes for the British Army across three locations in Wiltshire.
The final homes were delivered by a smaller team to ensure social distancing was maintained, yet despite the circumstances the largest site — the Alanbrooke Estate at Larkhill — was completed one month ahead of the contracted delivery date. The estate comprises 450 homes made up of six house types each with a garage and two or more parking spaces.
Taylor Lane was one of two timber frame companies appointed by Lovell. The Hereford-based manufacturer was charged with supplying and erecting 450 timber frames across two of the three sites, collaborating with Stewart Milne Timber Systems on the larger Alanbrooke Estate. This extraordinary partnership demonstrated the benefits of collaboration, alongside the speed, accuracy and efficiency of timber frame.
John Leary, Major Projects Director, Lovell commented: “The speed of build on the Service Families’ Accommodation scheme meant that timber frame and thus an element of off-site manufacture was a given, but the choice of provider was a challenging piece. After an extensive selection process considering the country’s leading providers and given the high volume, fast-track demand of the project, we elected to select two partners, Taylor Lane being one of them.
“We swiftly developed a very open and transparent working relationship, developing design solutions and fashioning the technical and commercial package over a series of months to enable delivery at the speed required.
“We needed a positive, ‘can-do’ mentality and decisive approach. This was crucial amongst our senior team and the key supply chain partners. It was essential that we selected partners that understood the scale and significance of the project. This stood across the trades but was clearly crucial on key packages such as timber frame.”
Wayne Ricketts, Sales Director for Taylor Lane Timber Frame said: “This project was one of the largest we have ever tackled. It presented challenges and opportunities for us as a supply chain partner and for our industry; we were able to prove the power of collaboration and the true value of timber frame construction. It has been a privilege to work on such an exemplary scheme.”
