Boldt launches modular construction company Bildt

Appleton-based Boldt on Thursday announced the launch of Bildt, a modular and prefabrication manufacturer.

The company was created in response to interest from facility owners, general contractors and architects who want to reduce project costs and increase speed to market, company officials said.

Melanie Taylor and Ben Bruns, both industry veterans, will run the new organization. Taylor will serve as vice president of manufacturing and Bruns will serve as vice president of modular, which includes leading sales and marketing efforts.

“As a general contractor, we recognized the need for our line of innovative, customizable permanent modular and prefabricated products that can cut construction times in half, allowing building owners to occupy and generate revenue months sooner than anticipated,” Bruns said in a statement. “Working with Bildt brings speed, standardization with customization, quality and in some cases more than a 30% reduction in first cost over site-built construction,” he added.

Bildt will manufacture modular buildings, slide-in rooms and bathroom pods for markets that include health care, industrial, educational and commercial, officials said. Fabrication will take place at an off-site facility in Oshkosh and a site team will coordinate construction activities with general contractors and Bildt’s field teams, officials added.

Using on-site construction tasks and fabrication at the same time completes projects faster than traditional construction means, officials noted.

Bildt will also manufacture prefabricated panels and components, including headwalls, exterior wall panels and systems, steel wall studs and interior framing assemblies tailored to project specifications, officials said.

Company officials said modular construction is beneficial for health care projects, where expansion or modification of facilities can happen unexpectedly. Bildt will leverage modular construction toward other industries as well, officials added.

Officials also said prefabrication and modular construction will address the construction industry’s skilled labor shortage. The method can be used in remote locations where labor is scarce, reduces the need for specific trades people to be constantly present and lessens barriers to enter the job site. Because most of the work happens in the manufacturing facility, complex work is broken down into simpler and repetitive tasks that make training easier, officials added.

Boldt has already flexed its modular construction muscles before. In November 2024, the company used a crane to lift 46 units, each 74 foot by 13 foot, to the top of the Trout Museum of Art in Appleton. Those units will become market-rate apartments over a first-floor museum, and they could be used for student housing in the future. The company has already practiced modular methods on both coasts, officials noted.

Boldt officials said their prefabrication and modular construction business has grown since its first modular project in the 1980s and accelerated during the pandemic when hospitals needed to add space quickly.

“Rooted in our long history as builders, developers, investors and owners of projects, we understand our customers’ and the industry’s challenges. This level of understanding is something that clearly differentiates Bildt in the marketplace,” Taylor said in a statement. “Collaborating with designers and other stakeholders early in the process allows us to customize and deliver precision-engineered products to meet each project’s goals,” she added.