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On 15 May, a public exhibition opened at the ÐÇ¿Õ´«Ã½ Centre in Central London showcasing the winning designs of the Design for Manufacture Competition.

It was launched in April 2005 by the Deputy Prime Minister, John Prescott, to address the major increases in construction costs in recent years. The final winners will get the opportunity to develop homes on 10 sites identified by English Partnerships - 30 per cent of which will be the £60,000 homes.

Trevor Beattie, the English Partnerships Director with responsibility for the competition, says, ‘The Design for Manufacture competition has resulted in a host of innovative new home designs and construction techniques that can be used to build homes more economically without sacrificing quality.'

A total of six developers have been chosen to build their designs across nine competition sites - that's 965 homes, 318 of which will be built at a cost of £60K.

Door and window details

Details of the window and door elements are patchy at this stage. The competition has resulted in some distinctive designs, but due to the very nature of the competition, the word bespoke doesn't apply.

‘We're likely to use Crest's existing supply chain', says Alan Shingler, project architect with Sheppard Robson for Crest Nicholson's Renny Lodge development at Newport Pagnell. Kingspan will employ a structural insulated panel system for the eye-catching houses, which features innovative bathroom pods and a flexible internal layout for a high energy rating.

Glazing is minimised in bedrooms and maximised in living areas. A central lantern in the terraced homes floods the living areas with daylight and also acts as a passive ventilation and heat recovery system.

At this stage, windows remain a minor detail. The prototype house was single glazed by a local joinery firm, and a preferred contractor is likely to deliver softwood windows. The development is for 68 homes but only 21 will be built for £60K.

‘Quite a lot of this is about taking a flyer and then correcting things as you go', says Simon Bayliss of HTA Architects, working on the Barratt development in Allerton Bywater, near Leeds. ‘Housebuilders know their suppliers and what they can get these items for.' 46 of the £60K homes will be built at this 151 home development.

German supplier

‘As architects we've had to learn', says James Thomas of Make, designer of the development at Aylesbury Vale, Buckinghamshire. ‘We're using prefabricated houses by WeberHaus. The site itself is long and narrow so we've gone for clusters of around 30 houses, which is Secured by Design - it's a terrace with a sense of community', he adds.

William Verry Ltd is the construction manager for the first UK development by WeberHaus, which uses sustainably farmed timber from the Black Forest. Outward opening windows have been the only design obstacle for the German company.

The WeberHaus system has full certification to the high German construction standards and WeberHaus is in the final stage of obtaining ÐÇ¿Õ´«Ã½ Research Establishment approval for compliance with UK ÐÇ¿Õ´«Ã½ Regulations. The house is erected on day one and fitted out internally on day two. The product has already won the backing of major mortgage lenders.

Small but influential

The Design for Manufacture Competition will deliver some eye-catching developments that will be fun and extremely practical to live in. But for all the publicity surrounding the project, only 318 homes will be built for £60,000.

The project stands to be highly influential though. For many housebuilders, it is their first experience of off-site construction, and the cost savings and tighter tolerances achieved - window apertures are an example - will make them take notice.