It once housed a bustling production line, where bottles of Robinsons squash and Fruit Shoots whipped past on a network of conveyor belts.

But now Norwich's former Britvic factory is being used to produce something quite different and considerably bigger than a bottle of juice... houses.

Eastern Daily Press: The Britvic factory once produced Robinsons drinks, but homes are now built thereThe Britvic factory once produced Robinsons drinks, but homes are now built there (Image: Newsquest)

Construction company Beattie Passive is using the 116,000-square-foot factory at Norwich's Carrow Works site to make modular housing.

Eastern Daily Press: The former Britvic factory in Norwich is now used to build new homesThe former Britvic factory in Norwich is now used to build new homes (Image: Beattie Passive)

Soft drinks giant Britvic moved out in 2019 and the factory had been temporarily used as a distribution centre for PPE during the early days of the coronavirus pandemic, before Beattie Passive moved in.

The company uses precision engineering to make homes to Passivhaus standard at the Norwich factory, which are then transported to their permanent locations.

Eastern Daily Press: The Carrow Works siteThe Carrow Works site (Image: Fuel Properties)

Passivhaus homes are built to highest standards of energy efficiency and designed to use very little energy for heating and cooling.

The company has manufactured houses for a number of councils, including for flats in Swansea and for emergency housing for homeless people in Cardiff. 

Eastern Daily Press: Modular homes are being built at the former Britvic factory by Beattie PassiveModular homes are being built at the former Britvic factory by Beattie Passive (Image: Beattie Passive)

And, at a time when concerns have been raised that jobs of workers in Norfolk's construction industry could be at risk because of a limbo preventing councils from granting planning permission for new homes, the success of Beattie Passive means it is expanding its operations.

READ MORE: Former Norwich Colman's site homes bid stuck in limbo

And the company is recruiting for 40 new jobs, including for skilled carpenters and architectural designers.

Eastern Daily Press: founder and managing director at Beattie Passivefounder and managing director at Beattie Passive (Image: Beattie Passive)

Ron Beattie, founder and managing director, said: "We’re really excited to begin scaling up our operations to deliver our pipeline of modular projects.

"Last year, we completed the world’s first modular, relocatable housing scheme to the Passivhaus Plus standard. It’s highly energy efficient and rated net zero for operational carbon.

"I would urge anyone who is interested in these new roles to visit the careers page of our website."