New tables for prefab production of interior and exterior wallsImpressive carousel system achieves more than one home per day

Impressive is the only description you can use for Danilith’s process of realising ready-made homes. All interior and exterior walls are built fully-automated at the Wortegem-Petegem location. They use a carousel system for which Hendriks precon supplied the moulds.

Automated production process

Building company Danilith has been building homes and apartments for 100 years now. These days the company does this entirely according to its own recipe: a building system using traditional materials, optimised in a unique, automated process. This enables ready-made homes to be delivered within a short timeframe. With the enormous construction challenge, it’s not surprising that Danilith is growing. The demand for prefab solutions for construction is really taking off, something that is all too apparent to the Belgian company. ‘We needed more moulds so that we could manage this growth’, explained Karel Rogge. ‘Hendriks precon seemed the obvious choice for this. They’d already implemented modifications to our tables and had proven their expertise in this.’

Moulds for interior and exterior walls

Following an initial meeting, Hendriks precon produced a design for the new tables. ‘This is for the moulds that we use to make the exterior and interior walls. These interior walls are produced in two thicknesses: 10 or 15 cm.’ The automated production process is really special. ‘A robot saws through the facade stone and places this on the formwork table. The joints are filled with sand, after which the rebar is placed on the table. The window and door frames are also installed during this phase.’ The first layer of concrete is then cast.

Karel Rogge continued: ‘After the concrete has set, insulation material and lattice girders are installed on the concrete wall. All the sanitary and electricity facilities are installed onto this. The second layer of concrete is then cast. We use a special lightweight concrete for this with good thermal and acoustic insulating properties. After the unit has been through the drying room again, the exterior wall is ready for the final finish.’ This enables more than one home to be produced every day!

Ready-made delivery

The moulds delivered by Hendriks precon are hinged. ‘A recess can then be made in the second concrete layer of the exterior wall enabling the wall to be fitted to the foundations or to one of the floors. We use a tilt table to install the wall upright, which was also supplied by Hendriks precon. The only thing we then need to do is install the sills, the facade joints and install the glass in windows and doors. After that, the walls are ready for transport to the construction site.’