A Grand Design That Kept Its Promise: A Modular Eco Home Completed on Time and on Budget, England

In a television landscape defined by blown deadlines and ballooning budgets, Pete and Aey Aspdin achieved something almost mythical: a Grand Designs project that finished exactly when it was supposed to, for precisely what it was meant to cost. When Kevin McCloud stepped into the completed home, his verdict was unequivocal. The schedule had held, the numbers had stayed intact, and the craftsmanship exceeded expectations. To a presenter seasoned by decades of construction chaos, it felt like building utopia.

Modular Construction Delivers New Efficiencies for the Public Sector, Scotland

A modular construction specialist with nearly four decades of experience—and recently recognized as Northern Ireland’s second fastest-growing company in 2025—is setting its sights on expanding its footprint in Scotland. The move follows P McVey Building Systems’ appointment to the £80 million Scottish Procurement Alliance (SPA) Modular Buildings (MB3) framework, a milestone that signals growing confidence in modular delivery for public sector projects.

Santa Monica Launches Mass Timber Accelerator, California

SANTA MONICA— On January 4, the City of Santa Monica announced through its Facebook page the launch of the Mass Timber Accelerator, a year-long pilot program aimed at developers who want to explore the use of mass timber construction in upcoming projects.

The initiative will provide participating teams with free technical assistance to support the integration of mass timber into project designs, along with a financial incentive awarded upon successful completion of the accelerator.

Mass timber construction offers a range of advantages for Santa Monica’s building sector, including faster construction schedules, potential cost savings, reduced carbon emissions, and the opportunity to introduce warm, exposed wood aesthetics into the city’s built environment.

An Indigenous-Led Prefab Housing System Takes Root in Northern British Columbia, Canada

In the Nak’azdli Whuten community near Fort St. James, British Columbia, a quiet but significant architectural milestone has taken shape. A newly completed home—modest in scale yet ambitious in intent—stands as a prototype for a prefabricated housing system developed by and for Indigenous communities, using locally sourced wood and locally held expertise.

Described as the first of its kind, the project reimagines how housing can be produced in northern regions. Rather than exporting raw timber and importing finished buildings, the system keeps materials, labor, and economic value within the community itself. Trees harvested from nearby lands are milled locally, transformed into mass timber panels, and assembled into complete homes in a matter of days.

Adirondack Roots Introduces Affordable Modular Homes in Keene, New York

KEENE — A new affordable modular housing initiative has reached a major milestone as the first three buyers officially closed on homes at Both Meadow Trail, a permanently affordable modular housing development designed to address Keene’s growing housing challenges.

The four-home project, located off Route 73, was developed by Adirondack Roots, a nonprofit housing organization based in Elizabethtown. With three homes now sold, just one residence remains available.