Travis Perkins has launched a BIM-style design and costing platform, WholeHouse, for SME housebuilders.
Based on the BIM process, WholeHouse is specifically designed for housebuilders building up to 250 units a year. Using the platform, housebuilders can visualise in 3D their designs of plots and developments. These can be adapted, personalised and tailored to customer requirements.
WholeHouse generates designs, material schedules, detailed construction and marketing materials needed to plan, cost and build projects at the click of a button, according to Travis Perkins. Taking something of a smart library or platform approach, WholeHouse allows housebuilders to create a house type from over half a billion fully coordinated, tried-and-tested designs.
Information is embedded in the models, down to details like the colour of brickwork, different roof types, verge types, windows, door frames, porches, and gutters. Furthermore, component prices update in real-time as different components are added to the design, so informed costing decisions can be made. Designs are also checked and reviewed by an “industry-leading and expert supplier panel and fully compliant with industry standards and latest regulations”, Travis Perkins claims.
WholeHouse can supply housebuilders with an entire set of drawing sheets, up to 200 pages of construction details and a full bill of all the items needed to build a property in under an hour.
The first WholeHouse homes
The first two homes built using the platform will be ready by September and are based in the Midlands. Extensive work has been carried out on pilot schemes across the country, according to Travis Perkins.
Lee Jackson, director of WholeHouse, said: “We take great pride in supporting our customers with new value-added services that help them to navigate an increasingly complex construction landscape with new legislation and decarbonisation targets.
“WholeHouse will do just that: help SME housebuilders, who are the lifeblood of regional property markets, to build better, more sustainable homes quickly and safely, while retaining control over the creative design elements and saving time and money.
“This portal has been a year in the making and is the culmination of 500 years of collaboration and industry experience. It puts the housebuilder in the driving seat and enables them to simplify the traditionally complex process of planning, costing and building new homes at the click of a button.”
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