Serial timber construction defies weakness in construction industry

For the second time, the Holzkurier has done a survey on production volumes of companies operating in the serial timber construction segment in the DACH region. The survey was done among timber construction companies which manufacture two-dimensional wall and ceiling elements as well as three-dimensional modules.

Despite the persistently weak construction industry, particularly in Germany and Austria, where building permits have plummeted, around 90% of the timber construction companies interviewed in the Holzkurier’s latest economic survey reported either a good or a satisfactory order situation. 16% of participants forecast an improvement in the order situation at the start of the year, while around two-thirds did not expect any change. Companies operating in the remodeling, renovation, and extension segments were particularly optimistic, with 39% of them expecting an improvement in the order situation in the current six-month period.

In the case of Germany, the extensive funding programs, especially in the area of serial building renovation, are likely a driver behind this positive development. However, some market participants also see those programs as a source of uncertainty as they depend on the respective framework conditions imposed by the government. Nevertheless, 61% of respondents expect the market share of timber construction to increase in the future.

Dynamic market environment

Last year, two major projects were officially inaugurated: the Green Factory of German-Swiss company Nokera and timpla’s timber module factory in the wider Berlin area. An hour’s drive north of Berlin, timpla built a factory with an annual capacity of up to 2,000 modules, making it the largest factory of its kind in Germany. Meanwhile, Nokera claims that it will have a production capacity of 30,000 residential units per year at full capacity. That would make it the world’s largest factory for serial timber construction.

In 2024, Lower Bavarian company Sonnleitner Holzbauwerke, a timber construction firm with several decades of experience in two-dimensional system construction, started producing three-dimensional timber modules. Swiss company Strüby also invested in expanding its production in Root last year. According to Strüby, the centerpiece of the expansion is a new board stacking machine for the automated production of mass timber ceiling elements. Also in 2024, a new production hall for 3D modules was commissioned at the site of timber construction company Saint-Gobain Brüggemann Holzbau in Neuenkirchen, Germany. Production capacity is said to be up to 1,800 modules a year.

Another major project, Gropyus’s Smart Factory in Richen, Baden-Württemberg, is currently in the ramp-up phase and will be officially inaugurated later this year. The first production line is scheduled to go into operation in early April. Gropyus relies on digital process from planning to production. The total annual capacity is stated to be 250,000 m² of gross floor area.

Meiberger Holzbau also invested in new manufacturing technology. The Salzburg-based company commissioned a semi-automated wall, ceiling, and roof production line, including technology for blow-in insulation, at the start of this year. The Swabian Aumann Group is also building a new production facility, which is scheduled to go into operation in the fourth quarter of 2025.

Since 2021, Blumer-Lehmann has been operating a production site for timber and modular buildings in Großenlüder, Hesse, in addition to a module factory at its headquarters in Gossau, Switzerland. This former is be relocated to Steinau an der Straße, approximately 50 km away, in 2026. The new facility will have production lines for wall, ceiling, and floor elements, as well as a line for module assembly and disassembly. According to Blumer-Lehmann, the facility is designed for an annual production of 400 modules and can be expanded if necessary. Zaugg AG Rohrbach, which is also based in Switzerland, plans to launch a production site for prefabricated elements in the northwestern United States next year.

Modular timber construction company Kaufmann Bausysteme has a different approach to production. In addition to its main production site in Kalwang, Styria, production lines have been set up in vacant halls in the two northern German cities, enabling the company to process major orders in Berlin and Rostock.

Two acquisitions

In addition to the commissioning of new factories and the expansion of existing production sites last year, there have been changes in ownership in 2025. Upper Austrian CLT manufacturer LOC Holz sold its modular construction division to Tyrolean modular construction company Recon Europe at the start of this year.

In addition, Ziegler Modulbau, a subsidiary of the Ziegler Group, which filed for insolvency at the end of 2024, was sold. The new owner of the company, now operating as Holzwerk Naila, is BGK Holding, which is managed by the former Modulbau managing director Herwig Kohla and an Austrian group of investors. According to Kohla, the company is planning to build another module factory in Thuringia with an annual capacity of 2,500 to 3,000 modules.