Wood and construction: 3 European innovations to watch out for
Sustainable, renewable and increasingly high-performance… In the past few years, wood has been regaining popularity in the construction sector, particularly in Europe. A zoom on three recent announcements in the industry that illustrate the material’s full innovation potential.
The Spanish start-up Strong by Form launches Woodflow-skin, an innovative interior coating made of wood-plastic composites
Strong by Form, a company based in Madrid and member of Leonard’s SEED programme in 2024, unveiled its range of interior coatings called “Woodflow-skin” during Milan’s Design Week 2025. This innovation is based on the proprietary technology “Woodflow”, designed to reinvent the use of wood in construction by combining environmental sustainability and advanced-level performance.
Woodflow technology stands out for its nature-inspired approach:
unlike traditional woodworking methods which proceed by subtraction or layering, Woodflow uses computational optimization to strategically place wood fibres only where they are structurally necessary.
In concrete terms, Woodflow-skin is manufactured using an advanced digital manufacturing process that uses parametric modelling, finite element analysis (FEA) and customized optimization algorithms to calculate optimal wood fibre placement.
The process makes it possible to create lightweight, organic structures, while reducing wood consumption by up to 75% compared to traditional methods. For example, the flagship product “Woodflow-core”, a lightweight slab made of CLT (cross-laminated timber), weighs 60% less than traditional CLT, but maintains the same strength properties.
This technology is naturally appropriate for interior building applications, but it is also useful in the automotive, mobility and furniture sectors, among others.
In France, Woodoo has created a partnership with Bouygues Construction to industrialise “augmented wood”
At VivaTech 2025, Woodoo, the French pioneer in “augmented wood” and Bouygues Construction announced a strategic partnership to industrialise “STACK”, the main product manufactured by the start-up founded in 2016 by Timothée Boitouzet.
The partnership is comprised of a contract for the purchase of 10,000 m3 of this structuring material (equivalent to 20,000 m3 of reinforced concrete), for a total of 32 million euros.
Teams from both companies will work together on the entire industrial process, from the design phases to testing and construction.
The Paris-based start-up, which employs about forty people, between its headquarters and its production facilities near Troyes, holds over 80 patents on “augmented wood”. Its goal since its creation has been to transform fast-growing, low-quality wood (such as poplar) into high-performance building materials.
The Woodoo technology is now available for two main applications: STACK Facade, an alternative to aluminium for cladding, resistant to weather, insects and fungus; and STACK Structure, a load-bearing material seven times stronger than concrete, with a high strength-to-weight ratio. The emissions generated by this bio-sourced material are up to 90% lower than for traditional materials.
The British start-up AUAR has raised £ 5.1 million to make the automated construction of wood structures more accessible
Automated Architecture (AUAR), a British contech company, has just raised £5.1 million to accelerate the deployment of its solution for the automation for home construction. The funding round was led by the European venture capital fund Planet A, with participation from Shadow Ventures, Common Magic and Concrete VC. The historic investors Miles Ahead and ABB Robotics Ventures also participated in the financing.
Founded in 2022, AUAR offers a decentralized approach to construction, based on robotics and artificial intelligence. The start-up develops software that integrates AI, combined with compact, roboticized micro-factories that builders can rent and use to produce the entire wood structure of a home in only 12 hours, directly on site.
These micro-factories can produce modular wood-frame panels for walls, floors and roofs, which can be quickly assembled on site to create many different models of homes.
This solution is especially well-adapted to medium-sized constructions because it can be used cost-effectively to build wooden houses without initial investment or specific design constraints. The software programme MasterBuilder, designed by AUAR, links the design phase to robotized production, by automating everything from planning to manufacturing.
The startup is now planning to enlarge its team, expand its ecosystem of
partners and enter the key European markets, including Benelux, the DACH region and Scandinavia. AUAR has already completed several projects in Belgium.
