In an industry still grappling with persistent skills shortages, slow build programmes, and the challenge of scaling housing delivery, timber frame is fast becoming the solution of choice for many developers, but only when done right.
At Sticx, a growing timber frame manufacturer based on the Wirral, co-founders John Maddock and Chris Dermody believe the key to success isn’t radical reinvention, but taking direct control of risk and focusing on practical, measurable productivity gains on site.
With decades of experience on both the contracting and framing sides of the industry, the duo have shaped Sticx into a lean, hands-on operation that prioritises buildability over blue-sky thinking.
From their factory in Seacombe, the team delivers hundreds of homes each year, and now, with expanded capacity, they’re preparing to scale further.
In this interview, John Maddock explains why Sticx avoids the pitfalls of over-engineered offsite systems, how its ‘Superlope’ service is reducing scaffold cycles to just five weeks, and why he believes the second mouse, not the first, gets the cheese.
Timber frame construction is often praised for speed and predictability. Can you explain how Sticx is delivering measurable productivity gains on live sites compared to traditional masonry builds?
Buildings can be made watertight in a fraction of the time it takes masonry to reach roof level.
Sticx erect the frames for a pair of standard semi-detached houses in 4 days, ready to felt and batten. You can be watertight in a week from ground floor slab.
Most timber framing companies are owned and run by people with a manufacturing background. Sticx is owned and run by Chris Dermody and myself. (John Maddock) Chris spent many years running Wirral Joinery, a company that specialised in erecting timber frames for a variety of fabricators.
I spent 30 years working for an SME main contractor in Liverpool.
We come at framing with the view that whilst erecting frames only accounts for 20% of what we do, it is the most important element as this is when the benefits of timber frame are realised.
With all of this in mind, our view is that if you want to manage a risk, you should take direct control of it. We therefore directly employ all our designers and fabricators. Chris’ son also manages the erection teams.
Many volumetric offsite systems have failed to scale. What do you believe makes Sticx’s prefabricated panel model more viable and sustainable for long-term growth?
We take quite a conservative view around innovation in products. It is well known in construction that there is huge inertia to change.
This isn’t entirely unreasonable given the questions of durability that can’t necessarily be addressed any way other than through trial and error. It takes a brave person who wants to be the first to build something new.
While many say that it’s the early bird that catches the worm, we probably take the view that it’s the second mouse that gets the cheese!
Our forays into system builds have been cautious and incremental. We have watched, with increasing annoyance, the amount of attention and support given to volumetric off-site systems. We have then watched them fail, as we believed they inevitably would.
We are in an excellent situation where we have a good understanding of the problems that need to be overcome.
Most of the risks faced by a contractor are in the ground, or the services (new infrastructure, diversions, connections etc), SUDS or planning requirements.
The “built in a day” models are expensive and don’t actually address these issues. They also fail at the most fundamental level in that if your problem is building affordable houses, the answer can never be to develop a more expensive product.
You’ve mentioned your ‘Superlope’ service delivering scaffold-up to scaffold-down in just four weeks- how does this integrated approach address site delays and streamline the construction process for clients?
Sticx has been building around 400-500 units per annum for the last few years.
We believe that the push for more housebuilding will necessarily lean heavily on Timber Frame.
There is insufficient capacity within the industry to scale up in any other format. We’re clearly not alone in thinking this as more than 30% of the UK’s leading house builders now operate timber-frame factories.
With one of our long-term clients, we are looking at a proposal to provide a service that delivers the entire superstructure envelope (a Superlope) from scaffold up to scaffold down.
Within it there are elements of design that are particular to us, but mostly it is about better coordination of trades and design integration of the various elements rather than new technology.
Again, considering a typical pair of houses, it would take us 4-5 weeks to put the scaffold up, erect the frame, complete the roof, fit the windows, insulate the frame, clad the frame and strike the scaffold.
We would pick up all the detail designs for the junctions and leave the building ready to fit out by the client.
Whilst this doesn’t introduce much in the way of new technology, the process has a huge impact on how quickly a site can progress. For instance, on most sites we work on the main contractor wants to build at a rate of 4 to 8 plots per week.
They invariably have scaffold up to each plot for around 10 weeks (mainly due to the coordination of multiple trades and subcontractors rather than the workload).
This means that at any one time they will have 40 to 80 plots scaffolded. That’s a lot of scaffold and we are invariably told to slow down on projects as they run out of scaffold.
If the scaffold cycle is reduced to 5 weeks, as we are proposing, then the builder can go twice as fast with the same amount of scaffold.
Furthermore, you can make the service connections a month earlier and progress the external works earlier.
These are the type of solutions that actually have an impact on shortening programmes. There aren’t any magic wands out there. Innovation needs to be targeted to tackle specific problems, there’s no universal panacea.
We are working with LABC to certify an external wall system which takes advantage of established timber frame insulated wall patterns, together with external cladding in render and/or brick slips to provide a complete wall solution which is quick to install, able to suit a wide variety of building designs and compliant with Structural Warranty standards.
Skills shortages in both bricklaying and site management are well documented, how does Sticx’s procurement and delivery model reduce reliance on scarce site labour and mitigate this industry-wide challenge?
Skill shortages in traditional trades, particularly brick laying, has made building in masonry both expensive and difficult. It’s difficult to even secure reliable bricklayers and this is only going to get worse in the near future as an elderly workforce retires faster than people are being trained.
Using timber frame to build housing takes at least 60-70% of the masonry out of the project. More, if the external wall is rendered or clad.
It takes the masonry work off the critical path as the frame can be made watertight without it and internal work can run concurrently.
Many main contractors we speak to, find it difficult to engage staff with sufficient experience to procure material and labour to build a superstructure efficiently.
You’ve built a team with low staff churn and strong in-house expertise. What strategies have you implemented to attract and retain skilled workers in such a competitive market?
Simply put, we choose the right people and pay them what they’re worth. They like where they work, we are loyal to them and the senior management are involved and take responsibility. We are all office-based and we believe that that generates a real team feel; no one is left isolated with problems, they are supported and find themselves able to advance.
Our ethos is to recruit locally and to show them a pathway in the company that allows them a stable, progressive career which is achievable.
We’re working with the STA to try and improve the apprenticeship options for fabricators working on Timber Frame. In any case, our factory operatives have a long service record and as we recruit to suit our expansion we will lean heavily on the most experienced to lead teams.
The social value we bring to one of the most deprived wards in Wirral is important to the region. 75% of our operatives can walk to work.
Timber frame offers greater thermal efficiency by design. How are your systems enabling clients to meet or exceed new Building Regulation requirements while maximising usable floorspace?
As regulations continually ramp up the thickness of insulation required to meet Building Regulations, Timber Frames have the ability to accommodate additional insulation within the depth of the frame.
Masonry walls have to accommodate insulation within the cavity and so external walls in brick and block are becoming monstrously thick. Simply put, a timber frame building will give you an extra foot in each direction of internal floor space.
With capacity soon reaching 1,500 homes per year, how is Sticx positioned to support the industry’s increasing reliance on timber frame to meet housing demand? What’s your vision for the next phase of growth?
Sticx has been involved with many different forms of construction over 14 years including schools and student accommodation.
Coming out of Covid, we took the view that social housing was likely to be a growth area for a country recovering from a huge economic shock. The incoming Labour government confirmed this with defined targets that would double the rate of housebuilding.
So we have decided to target this as our main growth area and the vast majority of our output is now residential.
Sticx has been building around 400-500 units per annum for the last few years.
We believe that the push for more housebuilding will necessarily lean heavily on Timber Frame.
There is insufficient capacity within the industry to scale up in any other format. We’re clearly not alone in thinking this as more than 30% of the UK’s leading house builders now operate timber-frame factories.
We bought our factory in Seacombe on the Wirral in 2016. Two years ago, we approached Wirral Council about expanding our premises.
Wirral owned three industrial units adjacent to our factory and, given the indications that we would need to grow to help deliver on the governments intentions to ramp up house building, we persuaded them to sell to us. We have increased our manufacturing space from 20,000 to 40,000 ft2.
For more information visit https://sticx.co.uk/
