Massive and beautiful: The new composite floor combines two worlds

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MMK’s XC® Wood-Concrete-composite system sets new standards:

Wood or concrete? MMK’s new XC®-floor made of prefabricated wood-concrete composite elements combines the best of both construction materials. The first pilot project has just been finished in Vienna in the erection of a multi-storey apartment building.

„We installed the new floor in one of the objects and we are delighted by the system. The interaction of the two materials wood and concrete has many advantages such as the increased loadbearing capacity for wider spans and the visible wood-look “, says manager Mathias Simma from Kaufmann Bausysteme GmbH in Reuthe/Vorarlberg. The fact that the floor is delivered readymade is another convincing argument. „The prefabricated elements save a lot of work steps and is a clean solution. It eliminates moisture and dirt that could damage the wood surface. It is absolutely possible to use the XC®-floor in other objects. Another interesting possibility is in office construction“says Simma. He has many years‘ of experience: Kaufmann Bausysteme GmbH is one of the best reputed companies in this field and was awarded the Holzbaupreis (Prize for Building with wood) 2015 in Germany, Salzburg and Vorarlberg.

Concrete and wood: A perfect supplement

Despite different opinions in wood and classical massive construction, the XC®-floor of MMK has a common denominator: A pre-fabricated, exposed wooden floor that needs no falsework support is applicable in massive construction on mineral basis and convinces by the ecological combination of renewable raw material and high-performance concrete. The concrete layer enables considerable improvements in sound protection, load-bearing and vibration behavior compared to conventional wood floors. Standardized floor thicknesses for span width up to 8 m and short assembly times of the dry construction system guarantee high efficiency on the construction site. This was shown in a pilot project where about 500 m² of XC® elements were installed. „In order to demonstrate the advantages of this system in practice the project was scientifically supervised and documented by the Technical University of Graz concerning assembly procedure and system comparison. It could be proven that the assembly with the XC® composite system was as fast as with the conventional and established plywood construction.“ says Thomas Lierzer, manager of MMK and F&E-manager of the MM Holz Group.

Joint-Venture for innovative application and revenue start

The XC®-floor will be launched in September 2015 via MMK Holz-Beton-Fertigteile GmbH, which is a 50:50 joint-venture between the Kirchdorfer Fertigteilholding GmbH and the Mayr-Melnhof Holz-Holding AG. MMK was founded as a competence and development center for wood-concrete composite applications. „The versatility, load-bearing capacity and durability of concrete is optimally supplemented by the features of wood, thus enabling applications that are extraordinary regarding design variety and physical properties.”, says Alexander Barnaš, manager of MMK and head of Research and Development of the Kirchdorfer prefabrication branch.

Wood and concrete combined to industry giants

The wood-concrete composite elements were produced at MABA Fertigteilindustrie GmbH, Austria’s biggest producer of prefabricated elements in its market segments and part of the international Kirchdorfer Group. The plywood boards were delivered by BSP Gaishorn of the Mayr-Melnhof Holz Holding AG, a leading European enterprise in wood industry.