The British Red Cross is working with Caldicot-based timber frame company Benfield ATT to use factory-produced kit homes as construction site offices in the tsunami-hit Maldives.

The charity is helping people in the area recover from the disaster by re-establishing their livelihoods, part of which involves building houses which can withstand future disasters.

In all the British Red Cross is building more than 700 houses on six of the worst affected islands.

Six Benfield ATT disaster relief, relocatable or permanent housing kits, which comprise both open and closed-cell timber frame panels, will be erected to serve as construction site offices on the islands.

Paul Tappins, technical sales manager with the Caldicot-based company, said: "Timber frame is ideally suited to this kind of emergency response situation. Within two weeks from order, we had the first flat pack home containerised for shipping and heading their way. Both our technical and manufacturing teams have responded to the urgent situation brilliantly, without any delay to other client projects."

Timber frame could provide an excellent starting point for instant regeneration in disaster-affected communities.

Managing director of Benfield ATT, Professor Michael Benfield, said: "The uptake of timber frame can significantly reduce our impact upon climate change. By minimising carbon emissions and locking-up the carbon, we hope that climate-linked weather disasters are reduced for future generations. This isn't going to happen overnight but the British Red Cross have made a small step in the right direction."