Optima Homes

Optima Homes are designed to maximise space while keeping build costs low, and ensuring low energy usage and low heating costs. Sold as individual homes or in terrace combinations, they therefore suit a range of buyers:

• They are ideal for local authorities looking for low carbon, low energy council or affordable housing.

• They are well-suited to communities looking to purchase individual or multiple homes.

• With rapid assembly and low build costs, even in remote areas, these homes are also perfectly suited to estates and companies looking to house rural families and workers.

• Optimising health, light and space, these homes are wonderfully suited to buyers of individual homes, keeping costs low throughout the build and the building's life.

MAKAR Homes’ Breathing Walls use layers of hygroscopic and vapour-permeable natural materials such as cellulose insulation that have an increasing level of vapour resistance towards the interior surface. This helps walls to dry out, which reduces a building’s risk of developing mould whilst improving the indoor air quality and improving the performance and longevity of the building.

We have significant experience in delivering certified Passivhaus.

All of MAKAR’s timber-rich, eco homes, including our affordable home designs, embrace Passivhaus principles as a benchmark of quality, energy efficiency, health and comfort. MAKAR homes achieve the majority of the Passivhaus criteria with our panel system, which we have been developing over the last two decades. To obtain certified Passivhaus our homes would require site-specific PHPP calculations that consider factors such as house orientation and altitude, which we do not do as standard. Designs and specifications may require adjustment to meet the Passivhaus criteria.

You can find out more about Passivhaus and energy-efficient MAKAR homes here.

Our integrated service covers all aspects of the design and build, to a wind and watertight Shell for fit-out by others. We assume you already own a site, but if you have found one you like, then feel free to give our team a call. We can help with the decision-making process and undertake a site appraisal to help you consider the development potential of the site.

We can also deal with planning and building warrants; we have a dedicated architectural team that takes you through the entire design process.

To find out more about individual elements of MAKAR’s homebuilding, head to our Process page.

We assembled our prototype Optima Home (the Paradigm) in just 7 days! Traditional new build construction times in the UK are around 7-10 months. MAKAR’s Modern Methods of Construction (MMC) use a panelised system that allows us to dramatically reduce build times, also reducing build costs and waste.

Nonetheless, there are other stages to home-building, from design and planning to internal fit-out.

In general, the first five Design stages can take approximately 6-9 months, including the development of your design and going through the Planning and Building Warrant consents.

A house typically goes through production in 8-16 weeks. On-site assembly of the prefabricated panels is typically undertaken in 5-10 days, and our teams will then stay on site for a further 6 weeks to ensure that the shell is 100% wind and watertight.

Internal fit-out time depends on your location and the availability of local contractors you have chosen, but this typically take 15-20 weeks after the external shell is complete.

Yes!

Most of our projects to date have been in Scotland but we can also build throughout the entire UK and Ireland, including the Highlands and Islands. We are fully equipped to manage projects in various locations, ensuring the same high standards of quality and efficiency. Our off-site construction and rapid assembly process is a key factor in this.

The location of your site in relation to our Inverness HQ will impact transport and labour costs, though most other costs will remain unaffected. Regardless of where your site is, we are committed to delivering exceptional service and craftsmanship.

Modelled heating bills for our 2-bed Paradigm Home are just £5.74 per week. With Highlands and Islands Enterprise and Datalab, we are measuring energy usage and costs over over 15 months, including two winters.

Though energy bills vary according to your own habits, your site conditions and the design of your home. According to the UK government a typical UK three-bed house will use over 15,000 kWh of energy per year on heating, lighting and cooking whereas a typical MAKAR three-bed will require just over 3,000-4000 kWh per year.

Using Passivhaus software we are able to model the likely energy requirements for space heating, based very accurately on the MAKAR system – down to the number of screws in the walls.