Ki Wood

Ki Wood is a French company developing timber construction systems inspired by Japanese know-how. Based in Paris, the company Kiwood SAS was created in 2021, drawing on the SuteKi Wood and HighKi Wood solutions, whose assembly concept was created and patented in Japan, where more than 100,000 projects have been carried out since 1950. The French team, led by Alexandre Lunard, develops the engineering and marketing in Europe (France, Belgium, the Netherlands, with projects in Italy and Switzerland). Ki Wood's core business is the design and off-site manufacture of glulam structures assembled by concealed steel connectors, without screws or nuts, like a construction toy. The post-and-beam elements are pre-cut, pre-machined and numbered in the factory, then delivered to site for rapid assembly using a simple mallet: a team of 3 can thus assemble 30 to 60 m² of surface per day. The company relies on an integrated design office, which carries out the technical calculations and BIM support for each project. The range consists of two systems: SuteKi Wood, the first concept developed by Ki Wood for buildings up to R+4/R+5 (extensions, roof-raising, single-family houses, demountable buildings), certified by CSTB (ETA-14/0216); and HighKi Wood, designed for tall buildings up to R+10 and beyond, with next-generation connectors allowing the use of hardwoods such as beech in addition to softwoods, certified by CSTB in 2022 (ETE 22/0770). The company delivered a first R+9 demonstrator in Paris in spring 2023. Ki Wood highlights the circularity of its solutions, entirely demountable, reassemblable and reusable, as well as the origin of the wood from sustainably managed forests. Both systems have been awarded the "Solar Impulse Efficient Solution" label and the company placed on the podium of the Woodtech Startup Challenge 2024.