Austrian construction group PORR has introduced a bricklaying robot named Walter at its Kladno Living residential project near Prague, Czech Republic, marking a fresh step in the company’s push to bring new technologies onto its work sites.
The robot is being used to build load-bearing and partition walls from acoustic bricks across a five-building development that will eventually comprise 371 apartments, along with covered parking areas.
PORR has deployed Walter from the very start of the project, using it to lift individual bricks weighing up to 52kg and position them according to a digital design model, with the goal of achieving millimetre-level accuracy.
According to PORR, the trial is meant to evaluate how the robot performs and whether it holds up under real construction site conditions, rather than in a controlled or theoretical setting.
Bringing the machine onto site has required changes to how the project is planned and coordinated, with the company noting that effective use of automation and robotics depends on close cooperation between planners, client representatives, structural engineers and on-site teams.
Walter itself weighs 2,500kg and operates within a working range of 3.5m.
It can reach a productivity rate of up to 10m² per hour and draws 1.5kW of power.
The robot is operated under the supervision of trained professionals and its performance depends heavily on proper site preparation and sufficient open workspace.
PORR says Walter is now able to produce work at a pace comparable to that of an experienced bricklayer, and it is not limited to straight walls.
The robot can also construct corners and wall openings, expanding its usefulness beyond simple repetitive runs.
The company points to its main advantage as easing physically demanding work, particularly the repeated lifting of heavy materials, while helping maintain consistent build quality.
PORR CEO Karl-Heinz Strauss framed the robot as part of a broader technological direction for the company, while stressing that the industry remains fundamentally reliant on its workforce.
“Construction is and will remain a people business,” he said, adding that the intention behind tools like Walter is to support workers rather than to substitute for them.
Walter is one part of a wider set of digital initiatives at PORR, which also include building information modelling (BIM) and data-driven construction management systems.
These technologies are overseen by the company’s Construction Automation & Robotics (CAR) team, which tailors each application, including the deployment at Kladno Living, to the specific demands of the site in question.
PORR Czech Republic & Slovakia managing director Dušan Čížek said the Kladno Living project marked a notable first for the region.
“The experience gained from the Kladno Living project will feed into future projects and be shared across the group,” he said, pointing to plans for wider rollout based on lessons learned during this trial.
The bricklaying robot trial comes shortly after PORR secured a separate, unrelated contract win.
In January, the company was awarded a €150m deal to build the Kołbaskowo to Dołuje stretch of the S6 Western Bypass near Szczecin in north-west Poland.
