Karmod commences 4th phase of steel housing project in France

By Sibel Morrow

Turkish modular construction company Karmod has announced the start of the fourth phase of its steel housing project in Dijon, France, according to a statement on Thursday.

Ziya Yanik, Karmod’s foreign trade manager, said the company aims to play an active role in the French steel housing market.

“While the preference for earthquake-resistant steel houses in Türkiye is significantly behind that of European countries, we see that steel housing usage rates are around 30% in countries like France and Germany, compared to just 2.5% in our country,” Yanik said.

Highlighting the importance of steel housing in Türkiye, which lies in an earthquake-prone region, Yanik emphasized the need to increase the adoption rate of steel housing to ensure safer living spaces.

“Despite the interest sparked after the recent Kahramanmaras earthquake, the preference for steel housing in Türkiye is still insufficient,” he said.

Yanik also pointed to regulatory and awareness challenges as key obstacles.

“The lack of familiarity with steel housing models and the absence of regulatory frameworks hinder growth in this area. To address this, we need legal adjustments and enhanced educational opportunities. For example, the inclusion of steel structure education in civil engineering departments at universities is crucial,” he added.

Regarding the Dijon project, Yanik said Karmod has commenced the construction of four steel houses as part of the project’s fourth phase. The houses, each measuring 126 square meters, are being installed by Karmod’s in-house teams.

“These homes, built for a local contractor, follow a 3+1 layout design. The exterior steel frame thickness is 16 centimeters, but with the addition of extra insulation layers, the total wall thickness reaches 30 centimeters,” Yanik explained.

According to him, the steel housing project was designed in compliance with French housing standards and manufactured at Karmod’s facility in Türkiye.

“We transported the homes to France using three trucks, and we plan to complete the assembly and hand them over, move-in ready, within 38 days,” he said.