Timber construction has growth potential.

There is strong investment in serial timber and modular construction - regardless of the size of the company. However, while the construction industry continues to weaken, the question is growing: when will the market actually need the new capacities?

In the recent past, the news of new, huge production facilities for serial timber construction and modular construction has literally come thick and fast. Up to 30,000 residential units per year are to be built at the Nokera site in Möckern, which will open in 2024. In Richen, Gropyus is currently launching a €300 million robot production facility that will produce a wall or ceiling element every 16 minutes in future. An annual output of 250,000 m2 of gross floor area is targeted - the degree of automation is to be increased to up to 86%. Timpla by Ren ggli plans to produce up to 2,000 modules per year in Eberswalde, Germany, while Kaufmann Bausysteme now produces up to 4,000 modules per year at three locations and handles large construction sites with 500 to 1,000 modules in Berlin and other major German cities. In Austria, Binderholz has realised a production facility for system construction with b-solution in Hallein, where room modules with complete building services installations and wet rooms are manufactured in addition to prefabricated wall modules, ceilings and roofs. The company estimates its annual capacity at 130,000 m2 of gross floor area.

More than the above-mentioned and other announced mega projects, however, it is large and medium-sized timber construction companies in particular that are increasingly shifting their work from the construction site to the hall and steadily increasing the level of prefabrication. In addition to two-dimensional wall and ceiling elements as well as three-dimensional room modules, the serial refurbishment of an outdated building stock is also playing an increasingly important role.

Lots of demand - little construction activity

All of this is taking place against the backdrop of a weak construction industry and a recent massive decline in building permits in Germany and Austria. This contrasts with a blatant housing shortage in Germany, which has now grown to over 800,000 units.

It is therefore only a matter of time before the construction sector picks up again and the capacities that are now being created are actually needed, according to some industry experts, or as one market participant who recently started up put it: ‘We may have started two years too early, but if we only started now, we would probably be two years too late.’

In addition to the difficult market environment, this statement also implies the fact that new production lines and business models are by no means plug & play solutions. With increasing size and a high degree of automation, the time required for commissioning also increases significantly. It can therefore take several years before the targeted performance is actually realised.

Numerous market participants are currently reporting a satisfactory order situation, with the focus often being on public projects such as kindergartens and schools, as well as hotel projects and commercial buildings, and residential construction is also slowly picking up again.


Making the best possible use of advantages

The most important factors for the success of a project are repeatedly cited as good and comprehensive planning and optimum preparation of the construction site. This is because serial timber construction can only fully utilise one of its greatest advantages - the shorter construction time - if no unnecessary time is lost on the construction site. In order to achieve this, good partnerships with concrete constructors or the development towards becoming a general contractor are required - a path that many companies in this segment have already successfully taken and which is also highly valued by clients due to the simpler communication and project management.

Serial timber construction benefits from a significant speed advantage and a continuous increase in labour productivity compared to concrete and brick construction. It also offers numerous other advantages. Even in economically challenging times, it is therefore increasingly gaining market share. When the construction industry picks up speed again, serial timber construction could therefore play a key role - and by then at the latest it will be clear who has done their homework and which of the new production capacities can hold their own on the market.

Source: holzbauaustria.at