Construction systems

From components to housing modules: prefabricated, serial construction methods are considered an effective means of overcoming the obstacles that came up in the construction sector in recent years: scarce resources, a shortage of skilled workers, and rising material costs continue to be the biggest challenges when it comes to achieving target figures of creating new space.

The practice of building architecture on an industrial scale, which emerged in the early 20th century, has long since overcome the negative image of slab construction or stacked containers. In fact, the opposite is true. Elements prefabricated in the factory are not mass-products, but individually designed systems that are planned with foresight, intelligently assembled, and creatively diverse, conceived in a digital process from the initial idea to reuse.

Modular grid and prefabricated facade for a residential project in Vienna

On a much larger scale, a current residential project in Vienna demonstrates the advantages of prefabricated construction. The complex, called B.R.I.O. Neues Landgut, located in the development area of the same name south of the main railway station, shows how a complex ground area can be solved in a modular way. The complex, planned in collaboration with PLOV Architects, comprises 174 subsidized apartments and small commercial spaces, a nursery, and the office for the environment. Around 15,500 square meters of usable space are spread over the complex with buildings of varying heights, each with a polygonal floor plan.

The project is constructed using a wood-concrete hybrid method on a solid base. “A pure timber construction would have been unrealistic given the economic price pressure,” explains project manager Michael Porath. The planning team has tried to achieve cost-effectiveness through a high degree of repetition, i.e. using a modular construction method. Although the irregular layout is rather unsuitable for a repetitive system, the approach was nevertheless implemented pragmatically. To this end, a grid of glued laminated timber columns was created, arranged at intervals of 3.2 meters to 3.2 meters. The skeleton allows for individual floor plan structures with a possible subsequent reconfigurations of the residential modules.

In addition to a few stiffening walls and the reinforced concrete access cores, the ceilings made of slender precast concrete elements, the wooden supports, and the wooden frame construction walls with connecting pins were all prefabricated. The walls were planked with mineral wool insulation and plasterboard already at the factory. Entire facade elements, including windows and wooden cladding, were pre-assembled at the factory and fitted precisely on site. The system construction method required the early involvement of the contractor Rubner Holzbau, which not only prefabricated the elements but also transported them to the construction site.

Recyclable composite ceiling elements

Another example of a successful cooperation is a recently completed production facility in Schönberg, Lower Bavaria. Here, the element manufacturer Brüninghoff also acted as the general contractor. The result is a complex for the company Sesotec consisting of a three-part hall construction and a two-story office wing made of wood. The latter was realized using a prefabricated construction system in which a recyclable wood-concrete composite ceiling from the manufacturer was used. Despite the challenging topography and varying space requirements, a highly prefabricated concept was created, consisting of a hybrid timber construction for the administration building and a wide-span hall construction made of precast concrete elements with prestressed concrete beams.

Text: Sabina Strambu, November 2025