Thursday, July 24, 2025
South Korea has a long history of using timber for construction, similar to Japan. The traditional residential structure is the “Hanok,” a wooden home with climate-regulating clay walls and underfloor heating that provides a high degree of comfort. Master carpenters are among the highest-paid craftsmen in the nation, and Hanoks are still constructed in traditional woodworking shops today. Their talent is well known, and it is no accident that the South Korean competitor won the title of world carpenter at Holz 2022 in Basel. In contrast to Japan, where large-scale timber home plants are run by major automakers, South Korea’s timber construction industry is still a specialized one. The majority of people reside in urban regions, where reinforced concrete buildings are common.
On the other hand, as the desire for sustainable and healthful building solutions continues to rise, timber construction is finding a niche in rural and urban regions. Over the past few years, this has caused the timber construction industry to continuously expand, not only in residential buildings but also in increasingly upscale commercial facilities. The fact that Blumer Lehmann AG was given the contract to construct a private golf clubhouse with a free-form roof in Pocheon in the early 2020s is evidence of the rising stature of timber construction in the nation.
Contemporary modular homes
Space Factory, situated in Gyeonggi Province, is one of the up-and-coming companies in South Korea’s timber construction industry. Under the name Hangulhousing, the business was established in 2004 and started constructing residential timber-frame dwellings. These days, it concentrates on modular two- and three-story homes, mostly found in upscale suburban and rural locations. With a distribution region that encompasses all of South Korea, Space Factory leads the national market in this category. Following the American model, the company mostly used on-site stick framing until the end of the decade.
This approach led to issues with build quality and high construction costs. “To address these challenges, we decided to invest in manual prefabrication methods from the U.S.,” recalls CEO Park Jung-jin. “The goal was to improve the quality assurance of our homes. When carpenters work on-site, the final result often depends heavily on their condition that day. That requires constant, thorough quality control—and even then, you can’t achieve the same build quality as with factory prefabrication.” The weather conditions in South Korea were another strong argument in favor of prefabrication: “We have very wet summers and cold winters, which cause construction delays of four to five months each year when building on-site,” explains the CEO. Finally, cost efficiency played a decisive role: “Our aim was also to reduce costs through prefabrication. On a construction site, that’s virtually impossible. In a controlled factory environment, however, there are countless opportunities to integrate cost-saving strategies directly into the production process.”
1000 homes annually
The company’s shift to prefabricating entire modules began with an investment in a manual production line. Subsequently, single-sided encased components were manufactured, put together into modules, and sealed following the installation of electrical, heating, and plumbing systems. The business quickly exceeded its capacity limits, though, because of the manual procedures required and the small production hall. CEO Park Jung-jin remembers that additional automation is required.
“That was reason enough for me to travel to LIGNA in Hanover in 2019, where we met several companies from Italy, the UK, Sweden, and Germany that offered relevant production lines. Eventually, we got in touch with the company that offered us the most comprehensive and professional solution: WEINMANN.” Although the company was only building 150–200 homes a year at the time, it already had plans to increase production to 1000 units a year. The necessity to improve quality standards was another important motivator. With over 90% of its lumber coming from the United States, South Korea had long adhered to American timber building standards. However, new laws about insulation performance were forcing local manufacturers to update their wall designs. CEO Park Jung-jin stated that WEINMAN was the ideal partner to address both issues:
“WEINMAN machines are not only significantly faster and more precise than manual equipment—they allow us to build high-quality structures at scale. Even more importantly, their flexibility in terms of component configuration enables us to fully meet Korean insulation standards.” As a subsidiary of the HOMAG Group AG, WEINMANN also offers what CEO Park Jung-jin sees as a major advantage: “They have a global presence, including a local branch in South Korea. That means we benefit from professional after-sales service, including training, maintenance, and fast support when needed. This local presence was a decisive factor in our decision to choose WEINMAN.”
Seamless changeover
After the first interaction, which involved a visit to Weber-Haus, a longer conversation with sporadic pauses ensued, during which time a distinct image gradually became apparent: a well-equipped production line with an automated framework station, 16 processing tables, 5 multifunction bridges, multiple cutting centers, and two lines for module assembly. The client’s quest for an appropriate location was the cause of the prolonged development period, which lasted until 2022. This phase came to an end in October 2022 with the groundbreaking for a hall measuring 200 meters in length and 90 meters in width. From early 2024, the hall was gradually equipped with the ordered workstations. By September, the company officially began production at its new location.
The WEINMANN Academy provided on-site staff training, and a specialised trainer accompanied the launch for five weeks. The trainer not only continued teaching throughout live operations but also provided insightful advice on how small product changes may further improve the efficiency of the new production setup. The move from the old to the new factory was therefore easy and seamless. The goal of producing 1000 houses annually is now well within reach as Space Factory is currently operating at a cycle time of 20 minutes per (multi-)element, which is already very close to the targeted 15-minute cycle.
The next step is approaching
In less than five years, Space Factory made a significant transition from stick framing to contemporary modular building as a result of its modernisation initiatives. In addition to cost structure improvements, the company’s market share increased dramatically. Park Jung-jin: “Affordable housing is the key to success in our market.” At the same time, the CEO of Space Factory is already eyeing the next stage of growth for the company: “We’ve now reached an important milestone in our development, but this is by no means the final destination I have in mind for Space Factory. Unlike in Germany, there are still no timber buildings in South Korea taller than four stories. In collaboration with WEINMANN, we’re planning to expand the market for modular timber housing so that we can build taller structures in the future.” Park Jung-jin strongly encourages others in the industry to follow this path: “Around the world, it’s becoming increasingly difficult to find skilled labor, and the cost of labor keeps rising. Prefabrication, mechanization, and automation offer a way out of this dilemma. By reducing reliance on manual labor, companies can achieve significant cost savings, turning automation itself into a competitive advantage.” “If I had one piece of advice for other timber construction companies, it would be this: reduce your dependence on labor through automation, even if it means higher upfront costs. In the long run, it pays off.”
Go through WOODWORD for more blogs
Also, follow Woodworking News for regular industrial updates
Tags: Hanok wooden homes, Holz 2022 world carpenter, Master carpenters South Korea, Pocheon, Pocheon timber clubhouse, Seoul, south korea, South Korea architecture history, South Korea timber construction, Sustainable building Korea, Sustainable building solutions Korea, Timber construction industry Korea, Traditional Korean architecture, Traditional Korean homes
Comments: