Dive Brief:
- Appleton, Wisconsin-based contractor Boldt Co. is providing a new market offering with its offshoot, Bildt, which will provide modular construction services to clients, the company announced in a Jan. 8 news release.
- Bildt manufactures modular buildings and slide-in room and bathroom pods for markets that include healthcare, industrial, education and commercial, per the release. It claims to be one of the few manufacturers to also offer installation of its products as a service.
- Fabrication takes place in the company’s off-site facility in Oshkosh, Wisconsin, according to Boldt. Meanwhile, the site team coordinates construction activities with the project’s general contractor or construction manager, or with Bildt’s field execution teams.
Dive Insight:
Boldt Co. said that it created Bildt in response to interest from facility owners, general contractors and architects to reduce project costs and increase speed to market.
“As a general contractor, we recognized the need for our line of innovative, customizable permanent modular and prefabricated products that can cut construction times in half, allowing building owners to occupy and generate revenue months sooner than anticipated,” said Ben Bruns, Bildt’s vice president of modular who is leading Bildt, in the release.
In addition to permanent modular units, Bildt manufactures prefabricated panels and components, which include headwalls, exterior wall panels and systems, steel wall studs and interior framing assemblies tailored to project specifications, per the release.
Over the past half-decade, modular construction has captured the cautious interest of the building world, which ballooned with the spectacular rise and fall of modular unicorn Katerra. While some firms, such as San Francisco-based Webcor and its newly established venture arm Webcor Ventures, are investing cash into the space, experts and industry leaders say the building method has significant barriers that hamper its adoption.
Boldt said its prefabrication and modular construction business has grown since its first modular project in the 1980s. It claims the business accelerated significantly during the pandemic when hospitals needed to add space quickly, efficiently and uniformly.
“Rooted in our long history as builders, developers, investors and owners of projects, we understand our customers’ and the industry’s challenges. This level of understanding is something that clearly differentiates Bildt in the marketplace,” said Melanie Taylor, Bildt’s vice president of manufacturing, in the release.
