Wooden Four-Storey Residential Building – Bad Aibling, Germany

In 2010, a landmark project in Bad Aibling, Germany demonstrated the potential of timber in multi-storey housing. This four-storey residential building with six apartments was the first completed structure within a German DBU-funded research initiative aimed at proving the viability of up to eight-storey residential timber buildings.

The project, designed by SCHANKULA Architekten and realized by B&O Gruppe with timber construction from Huber & Sohn GmbH & Co. KG, utilized WALCO V connectors to achieve high precision and efficiency in prefabrication.

Key highlights:
Full timber structure: walls, ceilings, balconies, and even the elevator shaft were made entirely of wood. No concrete elements were required.
Fast construction: four storeys were erected in just four days. Each day, a full level was completed using prefabricated wall and floor elements with windows and façade panels already installed.
Fire and sound protection: walls were encapsulated with gypsum fiberboard to meet 60-minute fire resistance, supported by a detailed fire safety concept.
Sustainability: the building achieved a primary energy demand of only 22 kWh per square meter annually. It was also part of Bad Aibling’s “Zero Energy City” initiative, which redeveloped a former U.S. Army base into an energy-efficient district.

This project became an important pilot for multi-storey timber housing in Germany. It proved that prefabricated timber systems combined with WALCO V connectors can deliver safe, efficient, and sustainable housing at scale.