Prodatek - Thor’s Garden Urban Housing Project

Thor’s Garden. Just the name of this urban housing development in Odense, Denmark, sounds enduring.

However, it is the prefabricated panels manufactured by Danish steel framing specialists, Prodatek, using a Howick FRAMA™ 5600 that ensure this quality is weaved into the very fabric of this construction.

Sustainability is at the heart of this project with all 100 homes to be DGNB (German Sustainability Building Council) Gold-certified. 

While a fast, cost-effective build was important to the construction company Jönsson A/S, they also understood the right choice of materials would increase the lifespan of the building and reduce its maintenance costs. 

For this reason, they engaged Prodatek, a local company with a hard-earned reputation for delivering quality service, customisation and prefabricated panels made from inorganic material, which are ideally suited to the Danish climate.

A superior workflow with Howick machinery

Installing walls for 100 apartments with precision and efficiency in only four months requires a seamless design-to-install workflow. This process was something Prodatek had perfected, thanks to the integration of their Vertex software and Howick machinery.

“Our Construction Architects are very satisfied using Vertex which integrates very easily to the Howick machine in our production,” says Mikkel Hugo Hansen, head of sales and design at Prodatek.

“Because [the] Vertex software can manage a high level of complexity, we can offer our clients variety in our products by customizing their project down to the very last detail. When each segment has been quality checked by our construction architects, they pack the documents and send it to the Howick machine [which then ‘prints’ each element.]” 

“We are beyond satisfied with this workflow.”

The team can complete up to 10 walls of 2.8m x 5m (9.18ft x 16.4ft) every day, including all insulation and openings for doors and windows, which are fitted before delivery.

To manufacture this 250m2 (2,600ft2) of ready-to-install panelling, their Howick FRAMA™ 5600 roll-forms 1,110m (3608ft) of steel every day.

“Besides the convenience and ease of use, the Howick machine is also immensely fast at printing and [cold forming] the steel we require. It can contribute to not just one project but multiple projects in the span of an hour or minutes.” 

Faster builds, less waste

What also adds to the speed and sustainability of the Prodatek solution is the ease of installation and the lack of steel waste produced. 

“The company in charge of assembly at the construction site are very vocal in regards to the compact deliveries of steel building elements and ease of installation for the construction workers onsite.” 

“We are also very happy and proud of the minimal steel waste. Our material waste is under a total of 0.1% of excess steel a day, and that excess is sent directly to the recycling where it can serve as a strong product material once again.”  

About Prodatek

Prodatek is based in Randers, Denmark and focuses on producing solutions designed to make Danish construction simpler, more cost-effective and healthier. 

Prodatek’s products range from steel frame systems for renovations to turnkey housing modules with patented solutions for brick and slate facades. They achieve this all with virtually no waste, with products designed to be disassembled and reused, and by utilising 100% recyclable steel and sustainable materials.

Benefits delivered: 

• Sustainable solution for the Scandinavian climate

• 100 apartments fully walled in 4 months

• 0.1% waste from the roll-forming process