Refurbished Modular Building for YTL Construction

Requirement

YTL Construction is investing over £100 million into the expansion of its Avonmouth Water Recycling Centre, a key infrastructure project designed to support the city of Bristol’s growing population and reduce the environmental impact of wastewater management.

To support this construction project, a large-scale office and welfare facility was required to accommodate staff and contractors on site. The solution needed to be efficient, compliant with modern building standards and aligned with client’s commitment to sustainability.

Rather than procuring a brand-new modular building, YTL Construction identified 58 modular units from a previous project that had been in storage. They needed a partner capable of upgrading this existing accommodation to the required specification.

Solution

Wernick Refurbished Buildings was appointed following a competitive tender process, chosen for their expertise in modular refurbishment and full project delivery.

The 58 modules were collected from a storage facility in Coventry and transported to Wernick’s dedicated refurbishment centre in York. There, each unit was upgraded to meet the latest building regulations and outfitted with high-quality finishes, both internally and externally.

Internal fitout includes: a reception area, large open-plan offices, meeting rooms and training spaces, breakout offices, canteens, locker rooms and toilet facilities.

The refurbished building was then delivered to the Avonmouth site, where it now serves as the main welfare and office facility for the duration of the project.

Sustainability

This project is a strong example of circular construction in practice. By choosing to refurbish and reuse their existing modular building stock, YTL Construction significantly reduced the environmental impact typically associated with new manufacturing. The refurbishment resulted in an estimated carbon saving of approximately 249.26 tCO₂.

Wernick recently carried out an independent study comparing the embodied carbon emissions of refurbished modular buildings to newly manufactured ones. The results showed that refurbished buildings can deliver a 46% reduction in embodied carbon, reinforcing the environmental value of reuse over new construction.