The impact of the past year is becoming more apparent in the building industry. Businesses are forced to raise prices of the materials and services. The number of worries and gloomy comments, visible in various articles on different portals, is growing. Clients are struggling because for the same services and products they are charged substantially more. Certain items are simply out of stock. Services are still being canceled altogether or are delayed. This leads to a lower number of orders and as a result, some of the businesses, will not survive the situation. Both businesses and clients are therefore not happy.

We are lucky because even though at times the situation on the market may be challenging, we look positively into the future. Here and now, we want to continue to provide easy and achievable building solutions at affordable prices. We want our buildings to be practical and visually appealing. Therefore, we recently decided to develop a new offer.

Expanding Our Offer

Our offer is expanding regardless of the difficult situation on the market and we are doing our best to keep our prices at competitive rates in comparison to other offers on the market. The main goal of the new offer is to be versatile, meaning focusing on extending the use of our buildings to a variety of clients. On this occasion having particularly private clients in mind. The new line could be seen as a more attractive purchase to private clients because the designs are fit for residential use. With the new line, we also introduce new materials, particularly wood, while the designs allow you for any interior arrangement including converting these into the residential area, guest house, holiday/relaxation area, office space, and more.

Buildings included in the new offer are based on a wooden frame. Assembling the structures varies from our previous offers. With the exception of the ready-made static caravan design (picture on top) which, once unloaded, is ready to use, other structures in the new line are made as flat-packs. This means that, with the included instructions, you have the option of assembling the structures yourself, saving money on the assembly costs or, if preferred, you can hire a contractor to do it for you. We also offer an option of assembly if required.

More Information

Would you like to know more about our new offer? For more information on the static caravan, click here

To read more about our under 30m2 flat-pack design click here, and scroll down to the MTB FIVE design option

And finally, if you would like to know more about our larger, over 30m2, the flat-pack design you will find more information here

The idea of architecture being made out of shipping containers have been introduced on our blog earlier on. Today, we are thinking about it again while considering versatility of such built. The reason being is that as a modular building provider, we have recently added shipping container structures to our offer.

Our standard offer of modular building design is different in comparison to a shipping container option. The main difference is the starting point.

The standard modular building we produce could be best described as custom-made. A client is free to choose the size and shape of the building freely.  A shipping container is a pre-existing structure and designing a building with a pre-existing structure in mind could feel very different. Depending on clients’ needs, this could be exactly what’s required. A shipping container will be adapted to the client’s requirements with a clear starting point of a building form in mind.

While planning a project, at its early stages, it can be very practical to be able to look back at its basic form and reimagine it using a number of different methods. Shipping containers can and will be adapted. Changing the shape by connecting structures together, converting windows size and shape as well as doors – all are adaptable. Plenty of modifications can be done. Most importantly, the interior design of such a structure will also offer a wide range of choices. There are limitless possibilities and starting a journey of exploring those possibilities is an exciting beginning.

All companies everywhere have their own responses to the current situation. We have ours, we work from home too. Other than practical day to day work schedule, here, we would like to consider doing things in general while adjusting to the situation as it stands, not only considering our Modular Buildings but also considering general day to day life.

Since many people have been told to work from home now and we’re spending all this time in separation from others, we are now, waiting. And waiting can be exhausting, to some, more than to others, but still exhausting. This situation demands an answer to the following question, ‘how can we ease the waiting?’ or more correctly ‘how can we change our focus onto something other than waiting?’.  That is not an easy question to answer as with waiting comes anticipation and anticipation may trigger anxious response. This anxious response will most likely leave us wanting to do things. And we can’t. We must wait.

This is not to be meant as analysis, after all, feelings and behaviours analysis is a job for the experts. And all we are thinking of today is how to adjust to the new situation for the time being. Meaning ourselves, our clients, and all the other people out there. Coming back to focus on a simple conclusion to the above trail of thoughts. So ‘[…] anxious response will most likely leave us wanting to do things. And we can’t. We must wait.’ This answer is not entirely true is it? We can still do things, under certain restrictions, yes, but we still can. Therefore, we do not have to wait, or at least not entirely. The things we can do may not be the things we would normally do. This might be a bit straining exercise to force ourselves doing things we wouldn’t normally be doing but it might as well be our best answer to the above question. ‘How can we change our focus onto something other than waiting?’, the simple answer would therefore be, ‘By doing all sorts of things, including things we wouldn’t normally do’. And by doing things, we mean relaxing and doing nothing too.

Sounds easily done, but of course, many of us will find ourselves ending up browsing through the Internet as the simplest solution. Sometimes finding some good stuff there, while also potentially ending up reading about the same subject we are all talking about everywhere, the same subject we are all stuck at home for, the same subject which we are purposefully not naming in this article, and the same subject we are temporarily wanting to break out from in order to keep our senses. Reading news and staying on top of things is important but focusing our attention on one subject for 24h a day, 7 days a week, will not going to ease our waiting and end our anticipation.

Let’s go back to thinking about doing things. What could we be doing now? Maybe sitting down in a quiet room, with warm tea, an open window and birds singing outside. Sitting and writing down our ideas on options of things to do. Or maybe, we are not lucky enough to have a quiet room, as we have three children running around the house and we’re struggling to work from home while trying to home school our children and staying sane at the same time. Or maybe we are on our own, and the house is so quiet that indulging in this quietness even further to consider any form of relaxing this way would be a real struggle. Whatever is around us, in order to find some balance, we probably need a little bit of the opposite. And if it’s an illusion of the opposite, because that might be the only thing available at the moment, that’s fine too. There is always something we can do. It may be an uncomfortable change for us to force ourselves into changing the pattern of our day, but it might as well be our best shot. After all, are we not forced already to change the pattern of our day to day life? While we are working on finding new ideas of how to ease the waiting, we must remember, that in order to do it well, we will probably find ourselves asking the same question more than once this week or at least trying to find more than one solution and juggle between the few.

We receive diverse requests for our buildings, varying greatly from one to another. An example could be a warehouse which requires an order of a large building, it could be a medium-sized office building, a reception area which may vary in size, it could also be a security lodge or kiosk which would most likely require a petite building. Therefore, our designs vary in order to accommodate clients’ needs not only aesthetically but also practically. Our buildings’ sizes are strictly adapted to clients’ requirements. Accommodating clients’ needs regards, of course, a variety of solutions regarding the building interior as well. Some clients may simply require an empty shell of a building while others will have a specific request regarding, for instance, the number of rooms, floor finish, and presence of certain equipment inside the building such as toilet or kitchen for instance.

When a client decides to choose a petite structure instead of a larger one, his/her decision may be partially based on one or more basis. It can be that the petite structure fits the type of building they want or it may be that the client doesn’t have a necessity for a large structure and simply wants to save some cash. Often though, this decision is simply dictated by the lack of space on the potential building site. Whatever the reason for having to order a petite structure, doing so may be a challenging endeavour. Even though the building is petite, the client still expects it to fulfill a number of needs. It is physically more difficult to fit the necessary equipment to a smaller structure and sometimes either compromise or a unique solution is needed.

The examples of the two buildings we are showing today are both aesthetically pleasing and practically fulfilling needs of our clients, proving that petite buildings can be beautiful and practical as much as a larger structure.

Yes, fulfilling practical needs may be a challenge and yet, in most cases, it is doable. We are here to advise on possible solutions. Petite buildings can and will perform a practical role fitting in more practical solutions that you may originally expect. We are here to advise on those.

Today we are looking back at history of prefabrication. Let us discuss George Nelson who was an American architect, writer and designer. George Nelson was also a teacher, a curator and a photographer. Nelson travelled to Europe where, during his travels, he met and interviewed influential people connected to Modernist movement.

George Nelson was a design director of Herman Miller furniture company and he was widely recognized for his furniture designs. Furnishing designed by Nelson varied in use. This includes office furniture which could be seen as a good example of early prefabrication. His office furniture series idea, Nelson Workspaces, was based on pre-made furniture modules which could be customized and rearranged depending on customer’s needs. This was one of the first furnishing prefabrication ideas which gave so much freedom of customization to a potential client.

As a writer Nelson published articles and books on the topic of design. His books titled Problems of Design (1974), How to See (1977) as well as George Nelson on Design (1979) could all be seen as influential. How to See can be seen as a particularly relevant book to contemporary designers today. In this book Nelson discusses the subject of looking and seeing in greater detail. George Nelson believed seeing images to be a separate to learn discipline and he attempted to reveal the knowledge on how to read images though this book.

Coming back to the idea of prefabrication, George Nelsons liked the idea of industrial, prefabricated designs which can be customized by mixing and matching different modules together. That included his furniture designs as well as buildings.

Discussing Nelson as an innovative forward-thinking designer and architect who inspires, as well as discussing him as part of prefabs/modular building history, we need to talk about one particular design Nelson produced, named Experimental House. George Nelson worked on his Experimental House design project through 1950’s and even though it was never built, it was an innovative and influential project of the time. The fact that Nelson put his attention into prefab houses is an important aspect of modular building history because it shows that architects of early 20^th Century has already seen potential in modular building designs.

Experimental House designed by Nelson has been aimed to be produced quickly and built with a minimum assemble time. It was to be made with two types of units and various wall panels. Overall look of the house was geometrical but could vary depending on personal needs. Cube shaped units joined together with a great number of arrangements options gave a variety of different possible layout solutions. This giving the house spacious, modern area with flexibility of fulfilling client’s personal needs for the space. The idea of transporting ready to assemble units and partition walls was providing potential client with an incredibly quick resolution in a modern design. This house could be standardized and mass produced. This way client could buy the house almost off the shelf by deciding how many units and walls he or she needs. Nelson’s prefab house could also be moved to another location if required.

Together with his furniture and architecture pursuits, additionally, George Nelson was aware of human impact on the environment and he wanted to design better, greener as well as he wanted people to be aware of the impact in order to lessen it. That could include reduction of cars from the streets of city centers and more. George Nelson was an inspiring architect and designer whose work is admired till today. One of grand precursors of prefabrication and part of history, he is someone to live up to in design and innovation.

Annotation;  
Featured image is not of one of George Nelson designs.  

KC Cabins Solutions will be exhibiting at UK Construction Week 2018. The event is in Birmingham and it lasts for three days, from 9^th till 11^th October 2018. We would like to invite everyone to attend this exciting event.

It is free to attend and consists of nine versatile shows including a Build Show as part of which we are exhibiting. It is the UK’s largest built environment event.

Recently we attended the exhibitors’ open day for the UK Construction Week where we could view the venue. It’s a massive space where numerous exhibitors will be showing their products. It was exciting to view the venue while it is still empty in order to imagine it full of life. The idea of the show has become very real and a lot closer to us. We came back with more inspiration for our stand design which we are working on currently.

In the following link you can find out more information on our stand as well as, explore the UK Construction Week website; https://www.ukconstructionweek.com/build-show/exhibitors/exhibitor/53910-kc-cabins-solutions-ltd?back=true

Additionally, the following link will take you to the Facebook site of the UK Construction Week Event https://www.facebook.com/events/351994441991197/

We will be posting more about the event nearer the date. Hope to see you there.

November is a time of year when business owners are starting to think of Christmas, no matter what their personal viewpoint on the subject is. It is simply the next important event on the calendar as soon as Halloween is over. There is a reason for it and it is usually related to either smart branding or based on sales, depending on the business. Other than sales of Christmas related items, there are other important aspects of focusing business attention on Christmas. No matter what age group or marital status your business clients are, creating inviting Christmassy atmosphere may attract customers attention or simply make them feel more welcome.

Is it ethically acceptable to treat Christmas as part of branding though? The answer to this question is not a straightforward one. It depends on personal believes into the meaning of Christmas as well as a personal viewpoint on what branding and advertising should be.

Branding generally represents values which are followed by your business. After determining how you want to be perceived as a business you can present it to your customers through branding. Branding then becomes a mirror image of your business values in your clients’ eyes in order to remember you.

It is important to not confuse branding with advertising. Other than businesses which are selling Christmas related items and are in the position of advertising those items, as a brand, you may want to pursue Christmas branding but not necessarily advertise Christmas.

Whatever your business values and rules are should determine causes you support. This should include the answer to the question of whether to treat Christmas as part of branding or not. If, as a business owner, you do not appreciate the idea of commercializing Christmas and treating it as part of your branding focus, you might still agree that positive working environment could benefit you as well as your employees and for that reason alone you may find it worth considering to acknowledge Christmas. You may possibly decorate your workspace within Christmas spirit or even engage in some sort of Christmas related activity.

You may also believe, just like we do, that Christmas values are worth to be celebrated and for that reason, treat Christmas branding as an appreciation of those values.

Choosing to believe that Christmas spirit is not broken by branding and also believing in the free choice of celebrating Christmas, we decided to celebrate it. There are positive ethical values maintained via Christmas celebration and we keep those values close to our hearts. Branding almost seems like a trivial issue next to true values of life such as love for another human being, family or life itself. At the same time though, if branding can serve as a reminder of those important values, it stands for a positive cause.

Still, we believe in ethical questions staying open. That relates to questions regarding the subject of Christmas branding as well as any other business related matter in fact. Businesses change and when circumstances change, ethical questions need to be asked once again, therefore we are leaving this discussion open.

To give you a little bit more insight in getting to know KC Cabin Solutions we would like to share this short video produced at our factory site, giving you a glance on how we make it https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Bn6PjSSq8Kg 

We would also like to introduce Chris, our company director. We asked him for a short chat.

KC Cabins Blog Crew; Hello Chris.

Chris; Hello.

Blog Crew; We would like to ask you few questions about modular buildings.

Chris; Go on.

Blog Crew; Can you tell us in few words, why would you choose modular building and not a traditional structure?

Chris; It’s quicker to build. Construction is strong and safe. It’s quicker and cheaper. Your best option.

Blog Crew; Can you tell us a bit more about construction of modular buildings?

Chris; Modular buildings are pre-engineered units which after manufacturing are transported from the factory to the building site and fitted together on site in order to complete the building. Those types of units are made with the use of steel framing which is light in comparison to traditional structures. This type of construction is strong and durable.

Blog Crew; Strong, durable and yet less expensive than traditional building structure?

Chris; That’s right.

Blog Crew; Can you tell us about modular buildings being quicker and cheaper to build?

Chris; For our modular building, you’ll pay approximately one third of the price of a traditional structure.

Blog Crew; And how fast it is to build one?

Chris; It depends on the job. Approximately speaking though, it’s 50% faster to build modular building in comparison to traditional structure.

Blog Crew; Thank you for this chat Chris.

Chris; Thank you.

Consideration of choosing modular building instead of traditional structure may be a difficult decision. Chris is confident in modular buildings being better option.