Building Like Lego? How Our Element Construction Works

Anyone passing by our construction site in Amriswil at the moment can see the new Room4U building taking shape almost week by week. Not long ago, there was little more than the foundation slab – today, entire sections of the building are already standing.

The speed of this progress is no coincidence. One of the main reasons is our own approach to element construction.

But what exactly does element construction mean – and why do we build our buildings this way?

A lot happens before the elements even reach the construction site

Put simply, our element construction works a little like a giant Lego system: walls and ceiling elements are planned and prefabricated in advance. The finished elements are then delivered to the construction site and installed directly in their designated positions.

It may sound simple, but it requires very precise planning.

Before production begins, many details already need to be finalised. Cables, connections, windows and other installations are planned at an early stage and, where possible, integrated directly into the elements.

The more precise the preparation, the more efficiently the assembly can be carried out on site.

Robust at ground level: concrete meets timber

On the ground floor, we combine concrete and timber elements.

The concrete elements provide a clean and highly durable surface. They are complemented by timber elements, which we use, among other things, as practical partition walls. After assembly, the prefabricated elements are supplemented with additional cast-in-place concrete on site.

The major advantage is that many work steps can be completed before the elements even arrive at the construction site.

This allows us to assemble an entire floor of around 550 to 650 m² within approximately three to five days. After another five to eight days, the cast-in-place concrete and installations are also completed.

An even higher degree of prefabrication on the upper floors

For the upper floors, we use timber construction and take prefabrication one step further.

Together with Krattiger Holzbau AG, we originally developed a prototype. Over time, this has evolved into our own construction method, which we have continuously developed and optimised.

Today, the wall elements arrive at the construction site around 95% complete. The interior and exterior surfaces are largely finished, and even the windows are already installed in the walls.

Once on site, the main remaining task is to complete the joints between the individual elements.

And these elements can be quite impressive in size: a wall element can measure up to 12 metres long and 3.3 metres high. Ceiling elements can even reach lengths of up to 20 metres.

Just in time instead of temporary storage

To keep the construction site organised despite these large components, we work according to the just-in-time principle.

This means that the elements are delivered as close as possible to the exact time they are needed for assembly.

An element arrives, is lifted by the crane and installed directly in its designated position. This reduces the need for temporary storage space and allows us to coordinate the construction process efficiently.

With our timber floors, we can assemble approximately one complete floor per week in this way.

Another advantage is that the building is exposed to the weather for a much shorter period during construction. Assembly takes place in good weather, and during longer periods of rain, the already assembled sections are protected with a temporary roof.

More planning – but faster construction on site

Element construction does not simply mean building faster. Instead, a significant part of the work is shifted from the construction site to the planning and production stages.

Before the first element is installed, many details have already been carefully planned. This intensive preparation is exactly what enables a fast and controlled construction process later on.

We handle an important part of this ourselves: the planning and assembly of the elements is carried out in-house at Room4U. This allows us to increase our own contribution, optimise processes and maintain better control over construction costs.

See it in action: our new building in Amriswil

Our new development in Amriswil is currently a great example of how this works in practice.

From 10 August, assembly of the first upper floor of Building A begins. While installation is already underway on site, production of further elements continues in parallel.

The walls for the entire building are produced on two element production lines over a period of around five to seven weeks. On site, progress is then much faster: Building A will be assembled floor by floor within just around three weeks.

In this way, many individual, precisely planned elements become a complete Room4U building in a remarkably short period of time.

And that is exactly what makes element construction so exciting for us: 

we do not simply build faster – we aim to plan smarter from the very beginning.

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