Case Study: Zedpods
Fire Engineering RIBA Stage 2 for Unique Modular Home Structures
Client: Zedpods
Location: Peterborough
Sector: Construction / Architecture / Housing
Completion: 2026
Project Overview
Zedpods is a fast-growing, innovation-led developer specialising in modular housing solutions with strong emphasis on sustainability, quality, and social value. The company is delivering a range of residential schemes, including social housing and healthcare-related accomidation, designed to provide long-term, durable living environments.
As part of their development programme, Assured Fire Safety Consultancy were appointed at RIBA Stage 2 to provide fire engineering input across multiple modular housing projects.
Scope of works
Our role as fire engineers has been to support Zedpods in developing safe, compliant, and practical fire strategies for modular construction, ensuring that fire safety principles are embedded early in the design process. Key areas of involvement include:
- Fire strategy input at early design stage (RIBA Stage 2)
- Review of proposed door specifications, including the blanket use of fire doors throughout the development
- Assessment of fire safety approach for modular construction methods
- Support in balancing compliance, buildability, and cost effciency
key considerations
Several important design and strategic considerations have been central to the project discussions:
- Zedpods initially proposed using fire doors for all internal doors; this approach is being reviewed to determine where it is necessary and where alternative compliant solutions may be appropriate
- The developments are intended to be long-term housing assets, designed to perform over multiple mortgage cycles, requiring robust and resilient fire strategies
- A strong emphasis is placed on sustainability, innovation, and delivering high-quality homes for the social housing sector
- Fire engineering solutions must support longevity, modular efficiency, and repeatable design principles
Factory Visit and Design Understanding
As part of our appointment, we also undertook a visit to the manufactuing facility supporting Zedpods’ modular housing production. This provided valuable first-hand insight into the end-to-end construction process, from initial fabrication through to full assembly of completed units.
Observing the build sequence in a live factory environment allowed our fire engineering team to better understand how each component integrates within the modular system, including compartmentation, service routes, and structural interfaces. This practical exposure has been instrumental in informing our design approach and ensuring that fire safety considerations are sligned with real-world construction methods rather than purely theoretical assumptions.
The visit strengthened our ability to develop more accurate, buildable fire strategies by highlighting how early-stage design decisions directly influence manufacturing efficiency, installation sequencing, and long-term performance of the finished homes.
Our Role and Approach
Our involvement with Zedpods focuses on providing pragmatic, forward-thinking fire engineering advice that supports their modular construction methodology while ensuring full regulatory compliance and long-term safety performance.
We are working closely with the design team to ensure fire safety is integrated efficiently into standardised modular systems, supporting Zedpods’ ambition to deliver scalable, high-quality housing solutions that provide meaningful social value.
This ongoing partnership reflects our commitment to supporting forward-thinking developers in delivering safe, resilient, and future-ready housing solutions.
