Home is part of a 47-unit scheme being built for the government’s Building for 2050 research project

Corby Project Etopia ariel view1

Project Etopia, the Cambridge-based modular housebuilder, has unveiled the first phase of its development of 47 factory-built homes in Corby, Northamptonshire.

The housing scheme is one of five which kicked off the government’s Building for 2050 research project, funded by the Department for Business, Energy & Industrial Strategy, (BEIS) earlier this year.

The firm completed the erecting of four three-storey homes on the site in Priors Hill Park in April, and one of these has now been finished to a showhome standard.

The Project Etopia development will eventually feature 31 houses and 16 apartments.

Once finished onsite each home will be hooked up to an energy heating supply and storage system, Chess Setup, which is part of the renewable and sustainable energy programme of Horizon 2020, the EU’s €80bn innovation and research programme.

Project Etopia said its Corby site was the only UK location working with the system, which uses hybrid solar panels to generate heat which can then be stored and used by a ground source heat pump for hot water and electricity.

The energy earth bank/GeoStore system stores heat energy while batteries store electricity, Project Etopia said.

Joseph Daniels, Project Etopia’s chief executive, said: “Opening the doors to the completed house for the first time was an exciting moment for the whole team. It’s the realisation of months of hard work.”

Daniels said the homes did not look obviously modular. “They look just like any other modern, spacious property, with a lot of natural light and outside space. The fact they use the latest off-site construction techniques is hard to discern, inside and out.”