Norwegian company BAU-HOW AS chooses Latvia

After three years of careful planning and conducting numerous studies, Norwegian company BAU-HOW AS will open new, high value added manufacturing plant in Latvia. The company plans to commence industrial production of multi-storey residential building modules for the Scandinavian market.

BAU-HOW AS is a company registered in Norway with representative offices in all Scandinavian countries and Germany. The company has developed highly flexible, patented and cost effective modular off-site manufactured construction technology and manufacturing system. The industrialized production technique enables producing cost efficient buildings with a superior technical standard and with much shorter construction periods. The flexible BAU-HOW building system offers freedom in design, as it is the construction process that has been standardized, not the buildings.

Bau-How Baltic is BAU-HOW AS daughter company in Latvia that was founded in 2007 with the purpose to implement new construction system and ensure its further development. To date the company has conducted research on the location for the manufacturing, the necessary design works and selection of the management team.
Ventspils was selected as the location for manufacturing considering existing infrastructure and advantageous business environment in the region. It is planned to commence production in the fall of 2009 at currently leased premises, where the company will invest 5,5 million EUR. In the first phase the manufacturing plant will provide jobs to 150 people, and it is planned to create up to a 1000 jobs when all five project stages are completed. The production amount in the initial stage is planned 60 thousand sqm per year, but when the whole project will be implemented the area of produced modules will reach 600 thousand sqm per year.  The total investment amount upon the completion of all project stages will reach EUR 65,5 million EUR. 100% of everything produced in Latvia will be exported.
BAU-HOW Baltic plant will be located in the territory of the Special Economic Zone, and it will ensure positive impact on the activity of the company.
The cooperation with the Investment and Development Agency of Latvia, Ventspils municipality and the Free Port Authority shall also be noted as an important factor for successful project implementation.


From right: Mr. A.Lembergs, Ventspils City Major, Mr. A.Ozols, Director of LIAA; Mr. V.Čamāns, „BAU HOW Baltic” President; Mr. Ulf Åberg,„BAU HOW AS” Chief Executive Officer, Mr. R.Dakters, Head of Investment Promotion Division, LIAA

http://www.bau-how.com/

Video presentation about project available here: http://reel.dk/bauhow/

BAU-HOW MILESTONES: 1996: Research After reviewing over a hundred different types of building systems, architect Hans-Bert Klersy concluded that all the systems had the unfortunate characteristic of drastically lacking in architectural freedom. 1998: A new building system Klery’s dissatisfaction with the flexibility of construction systems inspired him to work on a new construction system. This new construction system uses steel and concrete as the primary construction material. 2000: 35,000 m² of industrialised building projects Between 2000-2004 BAU-HOW tested the new construction system and erected up to 35,000 m² of office and residential projects in Germany, Sweden and Norway. 2006: Restart and securing a strong capital base To construct a new building system for industrialized construction is one thing, but to standardize the construction is something completely different. A strong capital base was secured in the fall of 2006 to establish a solid foundation for the restart and development of the company. 2007: Securing the land After conducting careful studies, BAU- HOW chose the city of Ventspils in Latvia as the perfect location for BAU-HOW’s factory hub. In 2007, BAU-HOW secured land in Ventspils that is large enough to hold up to four factories. 2008: Management with 220.000 m²+ behind them BAU-HOW recruits its management team. The team consists of well-known Scandinavian specialists with experience from more than 220.000 m² of industrialized building projects. Their background is either in the construction or the manufacturing business. 2009: BAU-HOW production begins After three years of careful planning, BAU-HOW recruits top management team in Latvia and will begin production of the first Latvian factory in Ventspils in the fall of 2009.