System Built Housing: Pre-cast concrete
Introduction
To understand system-built housing, it's helpful to go back to the 1920s. Before the First World War, buildings typically had solid walls made of substrate materials like brick or stone, held together with mortar. These buildings would get wet and then dry out, and their ‘draftiness’ helped keep open fires going and allowed the walls to dry out—a system that worked well for the time.
Post-war, there was a significant skills shortage due to the loss of life during the war. This, coupled with an urgent need to build homes quickly, led to the development of system-built housing-homes that were designed to be constructed quickly with less reliance on skilled labour.
The method of construction is the significant difference between these and traditional buildings. System-built homes used pre-cast parts like pillars and panels, assembled like Lego or Meccano. Standardised pieces were used to speed up the building process, with concrete cast around rods and metalwork.
This quick guide has been prepared to inform people on the nuance around system built: Pre-cast concrete housing.
Published: May 2025
Contents
Welcome to the Quick Guide - System Built Housing: Pre-cast concrete
The document below will offer an introduction into this housing type, before highlighting why these buildings are considered differently when being retrofitted. It ends with a discussion about some of the retrofit measures that are commonly installed in these properties.
This is an introduction to this subject. Those wishing to explore this topic further should refer to the relevant material available on the RISE website. Furthermore, readers that would like this document in a more accessible format should contact rise@turntown.co.uk.