Flat Pack House Flexibility: From Low Cost Housing Development to Idyllic Cottage

Flat Pack House Flexibility: From Low Cost Housing Development to Idyllic Cottage

There are a number of reasons people are drawn to flat pack construction, from its low cost to the energy efficiency provided by the structural insulated panels from which flat pack houses are made. However, the flexibility of a flat pack house is perhaps the reason behind the widespread popularity of flat packs: you can just as easily build a low cost housing development of identical three-bedroom houses as you can an idyllic cottage built to your own specifications. The UK’s ‘one stop shop’ for flat pack homes, SIP Direct (http://www.structuralinsulatedpanels.co.uk/), looks at the different options available.

Flat pack construction has one primary material at its core: structural insulated panels (also known as SIPs). These composite panels have a fibreglass and polystyrene core which offers six times as much insulation as a standard brick build. They are light and easy to manipulate in the construction process and yet strong, airtight and durable. These insulated panels can be applied to multiple different architectural designs, allowing you to create a basic garden shed or a multi-level mansion of a house. This flexibility, along with the improved technology of flat pack construction and the materials used, has seen flat packs really take off.

At the bottom end of the scale, flat pack technology can provide basic, almost shell-like constructions which are compact and low cost but which provide the same energy efficiency and air-tight insulation as a larger, more complex build. These are perfect for garden rooms, sheds, outdoor offices and garages. Moving up the scale, and the type of construction growing in popularity in a difficult housing market, is the home flat pack. Once you’ve chosen the size and layout of your flat pack home, construction can begin (and be completed) offsite. Your flat pack arrives on the back of a lorry and quickly takes the shape of your home. In fact, the average three-bedroom house only takes a week from the foundations to being completely wind- and water-tight! The same process can of course be repeated for a whole development of flat pack houses and the low cost of construction makes this a hugely attractive prospect for developers.

Finally, and perhaps most surprisingly, you can even create your dream idyll of a cottage from a simple house flat pack. You can work closely with the experts at SIP Direct to design the cottage of your dreams and then make it reality for significantly less than any resale cottage could be purchased for. Flat pack technology and the flexibility of SIPs means that you can just as easily create a picture-postcard cottage as you can a standard three-bedroom house, and in the same incredibly quick turnaround.

Find out how you can reach your flat pack construction goals, from family home to housing development project, at http://www.structuralinsulatedpanels.co.uk/.