THE past few months have been busy ones for Yorkon, which has constantly proved there is more to portable buildings than those provided by its parent company, Portakabin.

The business, which employs about 1,000 staff on a 60- acre site in Huntington, on the outskirts of York, is working on projects as diverse as hospital developments in Bradford and Salisbury, school buildings in Telford, and apartment buildings in York.

The expertise and success of Yorkon was recognised by the Civic Trust last week when its Sixth Avenue apartment block in York received a commendation in the organisation's annual awards.

The winning schemes were selected from more than 525 entries from across the UK, and will be used as examples of what can be achieved through good design.

The Civic Trust award is the second won by the Sixth Avenue scheme. Last year it won a Royal Institute of Chartered Surveyors regional award for Design and Innovation.

Designed by Cartwright Pickard Architects and built off-site by Yorkon, the Sixth Avenue apartments are located on a brownfield site in York.

The use of Yorkon's steel-framed modular building system enabled the project for Yorkshire Housing to be delivered in only 14 months.

The four-storey Sixth Avenue scheme, which is made up of 24 apartments and cost £2m to develop, followed the success of Yorkon's Murray Grove apartments for the Peabody Trust in London.

That saw Yorkon more than double its production capacity for living accommodation on its site, in response to an estimated surge in demand for modular housing, following the Government's announcement that almost four million new homes will be required in Britain in the next 25 years.

Keith Blanshard, the director and general manager of Yorkon, said: "We are currently working with the Office of the Deputy Prime Minister as part of the Off-site Manufacturing Working Group, to examine ways in which the Government can help housing associations deliver modular homes.

"High profile award-winning schemes like Sixth Avenue and Murray Grove are radically changing the way people perceive modular housing.

"Off-site construction involves the manufacture of steel-framed modules in a factory environment, using production line technology, whilst the foundation works are completed on site.

"The modules are then delivered to site by road, where they are craned into position within a matter of days."

He said: "The benefits of this kind of system are faster construction, roughly halving the time taken using traditional methods, improved quality and flexibility of design.

"However, what we still need is more enlightened developers to challenge conventional methods of building to give us the volumes to achieve beneficial economies of scale."

Because of the increased demand for housing, Yorkon has introduced a dedicated production line at its York facility, which will give it the capacity to manufacture more than 600 apartments a year, with the potential to increase still further.

Yorkon is working on a second development for Peabody Trust in Stoke Newington, as well as a site in London for East Thames Housing Group. A number of other projects are at the design stage.

Demand for off-site construction in other sectors is also increasing.

The company's work with supermarket group Tesco is expanding to include standalone Tesco Express stores in addition to supermarkets on petrol station forecourts.

"Many sectors are starting to appreciate the benefits of off-site construction. The modular approach halves programme time and guarantees quality," said Mr Blanshard.

Since it was established in 1980, Yorkon has worked for numerous clients, including McDonald's, BAA, Hilton, AstraZeneca, London Underground, London City Airport and HSBC.

But it is perhaps the health sector that is becoming its biggest client, as health authorities get to grips with the benefits of off-site construction.

The £7.4m Bradford Hospitals NHS Trusts scheme, which will enable an additional 8,000 inpatients to be cared for each year, is believed to be the UK's largest single hospital scheme to be built using modular construction.

Scheduled for completion in autumn, the 4,950sq m facility will accommodate three 28-bed wards and six general operating theatres.

It will be used for specialisms, such as orthopaedics, general surgery, plastic surgery, ear, nose and throat surgery, gynaecology and pain management.

The construction involves the building of 123 steel framed modules, up to 14m in length,which will be clad in York stone to complement the surrounding architecture.

Mr Blanshard said: "We are experiencing a huge increase in demand for off-site construction at the moment, from both public and private sector health service providers, and expect this to continue to rise.

"Speed of construction is a necessity for healthcare schemes, where it is essential to bring the building into use as quickly as possible to help reduce waiting times. Modular building also helps reduce disruption on site, a key benefit to hospitals, where sites are often very busy and space can be restricted."

There is also another advantage to the Yorkon method of construction.

"Because we use our own skilled and trained workforce at our production centre, we are not affected by the problems of skills shortages currently being experienced in the construction industry," said Mr Blanshard.

"That allows us to get the job done on budget and on schedule."