When Gillis Lundgren, a furniture designer and founding employee of Ikea, couldn’t fit a table he needed into his car, he had a stroke of genius: take the legs off. That moment went on to define IKEA’s furniture strategy and, subsequently, modern living. Lundgren didn’t invent flat-pack furniture, but his company helped take it mainstream.

Now, a Spanish construction company is hoping to spearhead the adoption of flat-pack buildings.

The company, 011h, uses timber and established sustainable-design techniques to reduce the carbon emissions of new buildings, increase their energy efficiency, and reduce the time it takes before tenants can move in.

Like Lundgren, Lucas Carné, a cofounder and the CEO of the Barcelona-based startup, didn’t invent this way to build, but he’s betting on his technology skills to bring it to scale.

The building sector is not on track to reach 2050 net-zero goals and was responsible for 37% of energy and operational carbon emissions in 2021. Activity is unlikely to slow down as the global population approaches 10 billion and demands a commensurate rise in housing stock. There is already a global housing shortage; the World Bank expects it to affect 1.6 billion people by 2025.

“If we want to fight climate change and shortage of affordable living, it’s like doing these three things at a time: building net zero with reliable capacity and competitive economics,” Carné said.

Founded in 2020, 011h uses a combination of sustainable materials, passive-design principles, and digital workflows to solve building challenges including scale, scheduling, and tight margins, with the end goal of helping solve societal challenges.

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