A community in Wales will see the benefits of building with sustainable steel products as 68 new homes are built on a site next to our Trostre steelworks in Llanelli.

‘When we realised the site was suitable for housing development, we thought about how to benefit the community and maximise the use of UK manufactured steel,’ says Kamal Rajput, Strategic Business Development Lead at Tata Steel.

Light gauge steel, shaped into sections and frames, is being used for the house structures where timber would traditionally be used. With a “kit of parts approach” to  construction, housebuilding can proceed quickly, with the house structure made dry in less than a week, as opposed to the usual 6-7 weeks in traditional building.

The houses will also have steel roofs featuring SolarSeam®, an innovative solar technology roofing product developed by Catnic. Designed to generate electricity even in low light conditions, the product will help to minimise energy costs for residents.

Manufactured entirely in Wales using steel coming through Port Talbot, and coated and bonded in Shotton, SolarSeam is just one way that this project is benefitting the Welsh economy as local companies including the main contractor Edenstone and social housing developer Beacon Cymru continue with the project. The first residents are due to move in towards the end of the year.

‘It was a huge opportunity to show how steel can be used,’ continues Kamal. ‘Reaching the government building targets of 300,000 homes a year is almost impossible using traditional building methods. Once our low emission steel comes on stream at Port Talbot, we will have a product offering that delivers strong sustainability credentials alongside an additional circularity element, positioning it within the same broader sustainability conversation as timber.

You can watch a short video about the project here.