Factory building 2,000 new homes a year opens in Ellesmere Port

A smart home developer has opened a new factory capable of producing 2,000 houses a year.

Project Etopia’s facility – a 50,000 sq ft factory in Ellesmere Port, Cheshire – is a joint venture with partner company 4wall, which offers a panelised construction system to help produce five three-bedroom homes per day.

Plans are already in place to scale up the facility in the future, with the addition of two more machines which could increase capacity to 6,000 units per year. 

The opening of the factory will create 120 new full-time jobs in 12 months, and 250 within two years, with the factory’s plant machinery allowing for a continuous line production process that can create tens of thousands of panels of different sizes. A 110 square metre shell, consisting of lightweight 97kg panels, can be constructed by three people in eight hours, with the ability to be stacked up to 14 storeys high.

Project Etopia is currently in the process of building 47 modular eco homes in Corby, Northamptonshire, with 4wall units rolling off the production line in Ellesmere Port set to be used to complete the project.

The Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy has already chosen the Corby development to be one of five Building for 2050 research projects to receive government funding.  

“This is an exciting and important milestone for us that will help us achieve our ambition to produce 21,500 eco-modular homes by 2025,” Joseph Daniels, chief executive of Project Etopia, said.

He said now is a critical time for housebuilding in the UK, with homes still not being built quickly enough, locking millions of people out of the property market.

“Our modular homes can be built incredibly quickly, and still be given a luxury finish, smart technology and sustainability features as standard,” he added.

“By providing environmentally-friendly, affordable houses which can be built in a matter of days, we want to make it possible for everyone to own their own home but without killing the planet. Living in a modular home is no longer a compromise.”