Audley English MBE

London Build 2026, under the theme ‘Building Better Together’, provides an opportunity to hear differing approaches to delivery and collaboration.

As an architect with over four decades of experience in off-site construction, I have provided a London Local Authority client with a one-stop delivery solution from inception to handover. I designed the scheme, project-managed and delivered a pioneering future-proofed social housing project using semi-skilled labour and a kit-of-parts approach, achieving a Passivhaus-standard building envelope. Handed over in 2020, the project has remained defect-free to date. The project was part-funded by the GLA.

I acted as both Principal Designer and Principal Contractor on this former brownfield garage site, which achieved planning approval within eight weeks.

With first-wave funding supporting the delivery of 73,600 homes outside London, alongside a London housing requirement of 88,000 homes annually and a strategic target of 50% genuinely affordable housing, there is a clear need for innovative approaches to housing delivery that involve SMEs. The Government and GLA are also prioritising Social Rent, with at least 60% of homes funded through the 2026–36 programme expected to be Social Rent.

The Future Homes, Skills and Innovation APPG recognises the need for future-proofed homes while helping to bridge the skills and innovation gap. This aligns with the Government’s focus on scalable innovation, skills development and partnerships, including addressing the needs of young people who are not in education, employment or training (NEET).

I am also a team member of ARVAST, which received Innovate UK funding to develop a smarter approach to construction assembly and transformative learning. ARVAST uses Augmented Reality (AR), Artificial Intelligence (AI) and virtual assistance to provide step-by-step guidance for assembling Modern Methods of Construction (MMC) components.

Although still under development, ARVAST demonstrates how digital innovation can complement industrialised construction, improve productivity and quality, reduce errors, attract new talent and support housing delivery at scale.

Digital innovation and industrialised construction must go hand in hand if the sector is to meet the UK’s future housing needs.