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water testing facility in Europe – the FloodSAFE House concept is proving its inventors claims of being a practical solution to avoid damage to a property. Based on an adapted Hadley light gauge steel frame, the three-bedroom (although roofless replica detached home has been developed in partnership with Floodjack International, inventors of a mechanical steel jacking system purpose-designed for raising buildings in flood emergencies. Now a fully-functioning test prototype, the process will result in a Flood rotection Certificate before it sees a live test with occupants to see how it performs as a home. Part of what enables this model to be easily lifted by the Floodjack is that while a traditionally built three-bed house weighs between - tonnes adleys bric slip-clad model is currently down around the  tonne mark.


The system is driven by sensors in, around and beneath the building, which activate the jacks to steadily lift the lightweight structure – at the same speed as the flood waters rise  and lower it gently once they have subsided. According to the project team, it will “keep contents safe and dry at precisely the moment it is needed,” therefore reducing both damage to the fabric, and the time needed for people to return home following a flood.


“THERE IS NO SILVER BULLET FOR FLOOD RISK MANAGEMENT,” SIMON GILLILAND, ASSOCIATE, WSP WWW.HBDONLINE.CO.UK


The Environment Agency-approved water sensors will trigger a control panel within  seconds of detecting a significant water-related event. The house taes  minutes to reach its full . metre height   floods are typically  mm according to consultant  who are working with Hadley and the University of Liverpool to develop the system. WSP has liaised with both the Environment Agency and insurers to “help


them understand how the house would work and what the implications would be for them.” They have also spoken to local authorities and housing associations about the ways in which the FloodSAFE House “could open up previously unsuitable sites for social housing development.”


The systems control panel sits unobtrusively beneath the ground floor and keeps the structure at its elevated level until “it is safe for the structure to return to ground level,” says Hadley. If any obstructions are detected, the jacks will automatically stop. As well as the steel frame, the house consists of offsite- constructed SIPS (structural insulated panels) modules, which are all shipped to site in a single day, and which offer sustainability benefits over traditional home construction, according to Hadley.


INDUSTRY PIONEERS en Towe group  at the adley Group, explained at the demonstration event why the steel frame company has jumped wholeheartedly into the initiative. Its partly a commercial imperative; the commensurate potential numbers of homes which could be created in previously unviable sites give it “opportunity to achieve scale in the housing market.”


Its not ust about what you build its how fast he says. ith the highly accurate, as well as rapid ‘Advanced ethods of Construction approach it is using to create offsite buildings, “we could steal a bit of a march against the rest of the world” with the FloodSAFE House, he believes. “Ultimately, the opportunity for us and developers is huge, because you can put more houses on the same site, which can make each site stack


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