Designing for prefab, without losing design freedom
The worry with prefab is that the factory reduces your design to what it makes as standard. At ZTC the premise is reversed: we translate your design into production — not your design into our catalogue.
Send your design (PDF, DWG or IFC)Plan a technical introduction
What prefab does not constrain
Free form
Curved wall structures, angles and complex façade geometry: our CNC production at ±1 mm makes almost any form you draw achievable. Prefab means precision, not standardisation.
Exposed timber
Exposed CLT as a finished surface, no added cladding where you don't want it. The material stays part of the design, not something to hide.
Hybrid where the design calls for it
Combine a CLT core with an insulated timber-frame skin, or timber with steel and metal — as in our architect house in Nijmegen, where ash, metal and CLT come together.
Any scale
From one distinctive home to a complete residential district or apartment building, without the detailing getting diluted: home 1 and home 40 are identically precise.
The frame you design within
Freedom doesn't mean limitless. Three constraints are best taken into the design early — then they work in your favour rather than as a surprise later:
- Panel dimensions — a CLT panel measures up to 13,800 × 3,100 × 400 mm. Ample for most floor plans, but a dimension that plays into your grid and transport.
- Building height — CLT up to 8 storeys, timber frame up to 5; above that we look at hybrid or other solutions.
- Design freeze — after the technical design it goes into CNC production. Changes after that cost money and time, so we involve you early and coordinate every junction in advance.
Your model becomes our production
We work from your model. Engineering is done in SEMA with BIM exchange via IFC; every junction and penetration is coordinated with you before a single panel is produced. You receive production drawings per housing type — your detailing translated into manufacturability, not simplified.
Substantiation you can check
- Fire safety: EI 30 to EI 120, depending on build-up
- Acoustics: DnT,A,k ≥ 52 dB between dwellings achievable
- Airtightness: measured n50 = 0.24 (architect house Gelderland)
- Production: Hundegger CNC at ±1 mm tolerance
Put your design next to our manufacturability
Send your sketch design, DD or model — no quote-chasing, a technical introduction. We look together at what's buildable, where the constraints sit and how we hold on to your detailing.
Send your design (PDF, DWG or IFC)Back to the architects overview →