Big construction element and great joy: R3 Massivholz’s Tobias Faulhammer and Thomas Fürmetz (from left) are happy about the first MHM project in visible quality © Günther Jauk
It is always remarkable how and from which sectors companies find their way to the Massiv-Holz-Mauer solid wood wall system. Nowadays, MHM elements are not only produced by classic timber construction companies, joinery centers and sawmills, but also by construction companies and start-ups. One of them is R3 Massivholzbau, founded only in 2017 and located in the Allgäu region. In addition to Biomassehof Allgäu, several carpenters and an architect are among the shareholders of this company. But let’s start at the beginning.
A few years ago, the fuel trading company Biomassehof Allgäu of Kempten/DE, started thinking about having an additional branch of business. The company wanted to become more independent from the wood fuel business, which sees strong seasonal fluctuations, and establish a pillar which is in line with the corporate philosophy. Biomassehof Allgäu eventually found what they had been looking for at Hundegger subsidiary MHM, which offers standardized machines for the production of adhesive-free solid wood elements (see box on the right). More than ten years ago, Biomassehof built an MHM addition to the existing company building, and one of the board members, sawmill manager Peter Fickler, lives in one of the first MHM houses. This obviously made a positive impression. Ultimately, it was MHM managing director Rainer König who brought the company together with the other shareholders and finally got the ball rolling.
Successful start
In July, R3 Massivholzbau started up the MHM line in Asch near Landsberg/DE and now produces around 2,500 m³ or 40 houses per year – and counting – in a two-shift operation. The company acts exclusively as a construction element supplier, but it often brings customers and carpenters together. “Nobody happens to buy an adhesive-free solid wood house. Those who choose this wall system often want to know exactly where and how their house is built,” says managing director Thomas Fürmetz, who often offers guided tours of the company to potential end customers who came across R3 Massivholzbau on Google. In order to be able to give more end customers, and especially carpenters, an insight into the production of MHM solid wood walls, Fürmetz plans to offer regular R3 morning get-togethers with guided tours in the future.
Still a lot of potential
Two years after the company entered the market, Fürmetz is happy about the advantages this decision brought for his company: “The demand for MHM houses increased significantly and we can tap into more and more markets.” In the beginning, MHM solid wood walls were used almost exclusively for single-family houses. Today, more and more residential and administrative buildings as well as kindergartens are built with MHM up to building class 4. Fürmetz also notices growing interest on the part of the solid construction sector: “They often recognize the advantages of this product and can thus reach a better utilization when it comes to the carpenters they already employ.”
Available in visible quality as well
R3 Massivholzbau produced visible quality walls like this one for a kindergarten in Frechenrieden © Günther Jauk
One of the most recent projects involved elements produced by R3 for a kindergarten in Frechenrieden which was designed by architect Rudolf Plach. As defined in the tender, the MHM wall elements were offered and produced in visible quality for the first time. For this purpose, visible quality tongue and groove laminations were fed to the MHM “wall master” for the top layers. The laminations were then fixed with nails without penetrating the surface (see picture on the right). “This way, we achieved a perfect surface to the satisfaction of the customer,” says Fürmetz about the unusual project. Although he does not believe that MHM walls with visible surfaces will become the norm in the long term, this project enabled the company to expand its product portfolio again.
The Massiv-Holz-Mauer wall system
With MHM, companies can independently produce solid wood walls and thus build entire houses from dried, rough-sawn boards. The line consists of three work areas. In the first step, the rough-sawn boards are grooved and leveled on one side in the grooving and rabbet-cutting machine. This creates still layers of air inside the walls, which increase the insulation value by around 20% compared to normal solid wood.
The “Wallmaster” uses the grooved boards to produce raw wall elements of up to 3.25 by 6 meters with thicknesses of 10.8 to 33 cm. In this process, the boards are pressed crosswise and connected with aluminum grooved pins layer by layer. The Wallmaster measures the width of each board and thus enables the nailing unit to detect every board junction and to insert two aluminum grooved pins diagonally to each other at the biggest possible distance. The joining is done with a PBA portal joining center from Hundegger.
