Chinese modular tech finds sweet spot in UK student accommodation

Modular construction, an environmentally friendly and time-saving alternative to traditional construction, provided by Chinese companies, is seeing growing application with a British university choosing it for student accommodation.

CIMC Modular Building Systems Holding Co Ltd, a Chinese modular building provider, said that it had set up six blocks of student accommodation, comprising of containerized modules, at Newcastle University in the United Kingdom. The Park View Student Village, as the student accommodation is called, is believed to be the first of its kind in the UK and was opened last month.

Modular construction is a type of prefabricated building model. Instead of doing all the construction work on-site, it allows more than 90 percent of a building project to be finished in the factory, thereby saving construction time by over 50 percent and reducing construction waste by over 50 percent.