HybriDfMA Frame – PCE chosen for Brent Cross Town Plot 1

PCE Ltd are delighted to have been appointed specialist design and build contractor for Brent Cross Plot 1 by BAM Construction for client Related Argent. Brent Cross Plot 1, located in London, forms part of a wider £8bn Brent Cross Town development, led by Related Argent and Barnet Council.

Plot 1 will be delivered through PCE's HybriDfMA Frame system build solution. This DfMA offsite design and build package elevates project efficiency, predictability, and sustainability through utilising the benefits of offsite, predetermined standardisation, and optimised repeatability.

Offsite engineering

PCE's HybriDfMA Frame system, like all their HybriDfMA systems, utilises a predetermined 'Kit of Parts' for standardised offsite-manufactured components.

To enable Plot 1 to deliver the highest quality structure that is both eye-catching and environmentally friendly, PCE’s ‘Kit of Parts’ will blend structural materials consisting of engineered cross-laminated timber (CLT) floors with precast concrete structural frame and core, showcasing the company’s expertise in interchanging structural materials. This innovative, flexible use of materials is primarily driven by sustainability targets and aesthetics to create a truly hybrid structure that aligns with Brent Cross Town's net zero ambitions. Using both precast and CLT achieves circa 22% less embodied carbon than an insitu solution, whilst also achieving lower embodied carbon than LETI aligned 2030 targets. Brent Cross Plot 1 will be the largest hybrid structure of precast concrete and CLT in Europe.

PCE’s commitment to quality ensures an excellent architectural outcome. This is pivotal given the 13 storey, 30,000m2 commercial structure will have many of its structural elements exposed, including the floor soffits and primary frame. With experience in creating visually appealing, exposed structures like the award-winning Assembly C in Bristol, PCE's streamlined approach negates the need for additional material such as plasterboard, reducing costs, embodied carbon, and construction time, while maximising internal space.

DfMA for reduced disturbance

PCE's innovative HybriDfMA delivery ensures that the build solution and delivery strategy aligns well with the wider development. Given the scale of the Brent Cross Town development, there is significant activity already on site. PCE's offsite approach ensures the vast majority of its construction activity is completed away from site, reducing required onsite resource and activity, site deliveries, and waste. This not only elevates quality and safety standards, it also means components arrive to site ready for immediate installation.

This enables PCE to deliver its system build solution with enhanced speed, safety, and control, whilst alleviating pressure on what is already a busy development site and a busy area of London.

Why HybriDfMA Frame?

PCE’s HybriDfMA system build approach delivers significant benefits, including:

• Up to 50% reduction in construction programme
• Waste reduction up to 90%
• Site deliveries reduced up to 50%
• Onsite operatives reduced up to 80%
• Significantly increased control, predictability, and efficiency through offsite approach
• Hybrid component flexibility and adaptable supply chain optimises material selection, improving structural and embodied carbon performance
• Logistical expertise diligently coordinates project with minimal disruption and maximum efficiency

Each structural component undergoes meticulous design and optimisation well before construction. Manufactured offsite across the UK and Europe through PCE's unique supply chain model, PCE ensures production of its high-quality components at scale. Offsite manufacturing allows for integrated M&E, utility, and security components, such as doors, windows, and facades, to be preassembled, enabling quicker, safer, and more reliable onsite installation, while reducing waste, deliveries, disturbance, and risk.

Designed to exact specifications and delivered just-in-time, these components are assembled onsite with precision using PCE's 'smart connectivity', allowing for structures to be assembled up to 50% faster than traditional methods.

With industry-leading digital capabilities, every single component benefits from comprehensive track and trace technology. Embedded within an interactive 3D digital twin and bolstered by advanced field data capture tools, project progress and component data are informative and transparent. PCE’s digital systems offer clear and concise access to each unique component's status, quality assurance and control measures, component information, and historical movements. Data is presented in real-time, with seamless communication between digital systems, providing a highly visible, accurate, and coordinated overview. This ensures that all relevant stakeholders can promptly, effortlessly, and securely access vital information in real-time, thereby supporting compliance with Golden Thread requirements.