Everything slow happens before assembly day. Assembly day is pure connection. Four standard components, two tools, one protocol. No concrete. No rebar. No curing. This page documents the complete assembly sequence for a 37.5m² Hestia module. The house is lightweight, modular, reversible, and over-engineered to last 100 years.
The key to speed on site is doing everything slow before you arrive. Panel fabrication, cladding, painting, window fitting, all happen in a barn, a workshop, a car park, or on the building site itself, over weeks or months, with no weather dependency and no critical path pressure.
Before any panels arrive, the foundation must be installed. This is a half-day task for two people. No concrete. No rebar. No curing. No weather dependency.
Time: 3-4 hours. Crew: 2 people. Tools: handheld driver, level, tape.
Each RCP panel is fabricated flat on a simple jig, two sawhorses and a plywood sheet. The process is identical for every panel, so speed increases with repetition.
Rate: 5-6 panels per hour for a team of 4 (one cutting, one gluing, two nailing). For 44 panels: approximately 8-9 hours of fabrication work.
Why this is not factory production. A factory needs capital, machinery, a building, staff, logistics, and overhead. A Hestia panel jig needs two sawhorses and a nail gun. The work can happen in a village hall, a borrowed barn, a rented workshop, or on the building site itself. The system scales with the number of people who know the protocol, not with the size of the facility. We take our inspiration from WikiHouse, who proved that digitally fabricated, open-source building systems can generate real community momentum through technical transparency.
This is the critical path. Everything before this was preparation. Everything after this is finishing. The assembly itself is pure connection: panels bolted to the foundation, bolted to each other, roof dropped into place, sealed. No concrete. No rebar. No curing. OSB, pallets, I-joists, and ground screws.
Sill beam is already bolted to ground screws. Panels are stacked nearby, cured, pre-finished.
Result: All wall panels standing, bolted, square. Approximately 2 days for a 37.5m² module.
With walls standing, the horizontal structure goes in. This is the most satisfying phase, the building becomes rigid.
Result: Structure is complete and weathertight. Approximately 3 days.
The shell is up. Now it must be sealed against wind and rain, and checked for squareness and level.
Result: Weathertight shell. Ready for services and interior. Total assembly time: under two weeks from first panel lift.
Once the shell is weathertight, the pressure is off. Services and interior can proceed in any weather, in any order, at any pace. Some tasks require licensed professionals for sign-off. Most do not.
| Decision and planning | 2-4 weeks |
| Permits and approvals | 4-12 weeks (varies by jurisdiction) |
| Material procurement | 1-2 weeks (all off-the-shelf) |
| Panel prefabrication | 1-2 weeks (at your own pace) |
| Foundation (ground screws) | 1 day |
| Assembly (weathertight) | Under two weeks |
| Services and insulation | 1-2 weeks |
| Interior finishing | 2-4 weeks |
| Total (typical) | 3-6 months |
Compare to conventional construction: 12-18 months from planning to occupation. The Hestia system removes the foundation curing period, the weather-dependent external works, and the specialist-trades bottleneck that makes conventional construction slow. A single parent on a median salary, with €15,000 saved and a €30,000 loan, can afford a three-bedroom home. It is our job to make that enough.
The entire material set for one 37.5m² module fits on a single flatbed truck. No wide loads. No escort vehicles. No crane required. Flatpack delivery to any site accessible by a standard lorry.
| 90 EPAL pallets | ~2.2 m³, stackable |
| 32 OSB3 sheets (2500x1250x15) | ~1.5 m³, flat stack |
| 24 I-joists (5m) | Long bundle, roof rack |
| 16 ground screws | ~100 kg, crate |
| Insulation, fixings, membranes | ~500 kg, bags |
| Total weight | ~4,500 kg |
| Delivery distance (typical EU) | 50 km average |
| Transport CO₂ | ~0.8 tonnes |
Compare: concrete-based construction for equivalent size = ~8 tonnes CO₂ (cement production + steel + transport). Hestia reduces transport emissions by 90% and eliminates the 5-8 tonnes of embodied carbon from concrete and steel. The house is over-engineered, but the footprint is minimal.