
At the same time, Zen Modular has signed a major partnership with four leaders in modular construction – AlphaM.3D, Habitat 3D, Module M, and Ossabois – to accelerate its development and strengthen its production capacity.
These partnerships concretize the startup's approach started in 2022: offering a digital platform for project owners and architects to enable them to construct buildings from pre-designed modules, manufactured by a network of certified manufacturers spread across France.
A territorial network to meet the challenges of decarbonizing buildings
Eager to transform the construction industry through an Object-Oriented Construction approach and to democratize modular construction, Zen Modular offers rooms for managed residences, healthcare facilities and hotels. The startup aims to deploy 10.000 modules per year by 2027, thus becoming a “game changer” in the construction market.
With a current capacity of 5.000 modules per year, the production of these modular rooms will be carried out with the interoperable Sustainer system, developed by the Dutch startup of the same name, and will use 100% French wood thanks to the partnership concluded with the Thebault Group in June 2024. This complete ecosystem offers its customers unprecedented design efficiency and a catalog of 100% French wooden modular rooms intended to be integrated by architects and project owners in their projects.
With their six factories located in Rumilly in Haute-Savoie (AlphaM.3D), in Amiens in the Somme (Habitat 3D), in Toulouse in Haute-Garonne (Module M), in Balbigny and Noirétable in the Loire and in Syndicat in the Vosges (Ossabois), the four manufacturers give Zen Modular a perfect territorial network – reducing the distances between the construction site and the production site – capable of meeting the challenges of rapid construction with a low carbon footprint.
Bedroom modules to effectively address the housing shortage in France
Still too little practiced in France – unlike in the United Kingdom, Germany or the countries of Northern Europe – modular off-site construction nevertheless provides a concrete response to the growing shortage of housing, notably due to the collapse of new construction, the increase in construction costs, and a persistent lack of human resources.
It is in this context that Zen Modular offers room modules for managed residences (students, seniors, etc.), healthcare establishments, hotels or even seasonal and emergency accommodation. Designed based on uses as real "products", manufactured in the factory with a very high level of finish and directly integrating all the elements (bathroom, electrical and plumbing systems, fittings, etc.) that compose it, the rooms are guaranteed without reservation at the time of delivery to the site.
For Pascal Chazal, CEO of Zen Modular: « These room modules are becoming a new material for architects, allowing them to build higher quality, truly low-carbon residences more quickly and cheaply. These modules will constitute the accommodation part of the residences, with the other specific premises being built on site in the traditional way: this is what we call 'hybrid modular', combining the know-how of the building industry with the power of industry. »
Among the various products that Zen Modular develops, the J-Room concept is aimed at student residence project leaders. In concrete terms, the J-Room makes it possible to build high-quality, low-carbon housing up to twice as fast, using a “Design Thinking” approach, offering a better user experience and easier operation for the manager. It accelerates and secures student residence real estate operations, while considerably reducing – by up to 40% – their carbon footprint.