FDB ×
Future of Construction 2026 · Budapest · 12 November 2026 · 11:35

Is the super-intelligent construction industry about to take off?

Yes — but not where most people are looking. Not a vision: a working example. A façade builder's journey from its own workshop to its own software.

Krisztián VataiFounder & CEO, FDB-Projekt Kft. · CEO, nodu
nodu.build · fdb-homlokzat.hu
FDB × noduEVE Music Hall · Croatia
What we build

Seven sculptural drapes — one envelope

EVE Music Hall, architectural visualisation. The complete envelope under one contract — design, manufacturing and installation. This is where the story starts.

Opening · Who we are

We design, manufacture and build envelopes

FDB represents design engineering — we know technology — where architectural character, technical precision and construction expertise converge. The façade is one of a building's most powerful statements — it defines proportion, establishes identity and conveys quality at first glance.

Our philosophy: the designer's vision retains its strength from concept through manufacturing to site installation — in Hungary and internationally.

Own facility
Manufacturing, Aszód HU
HU + DE
Group entities
50,000 m²
Cladding, annual capacity
10,000 m²
Curtain wall, annual capacity
Székesfehérvár
The problem · Data silos

Every .ifc handover adds delay — costing the industry €2 trillion a year

01 · Delay
14 hrs

of a 40-hour week, per person, go to searching for data, resolving clashes and rework

02 · Risk
48%

of rework starts from bad data or miscommunication: an outdated model version, a lost parameter

03 · Rework
12%

of contract value is lost to rework (6.4% direct, 5.9% indirect)

At every handover, someone may be working from an outdated model — and the error only surfaces on site.
nodu · About

nodu was born on the live projects of a Hungarian façade builder

FDB, as a façade design-and-build contractor, started developing nodu to automate its own design, engineering and operations. One rule from day one: every tool has to work on real projects.

3+ years

in production on FDB's live projects

15+ people

BIM, software and AI specialists on the team

Internationally recognised developers

József L. Kiss · Ágnes Gaschitz · Bendegúz Skultéty

nodu · Today

Today the handover is IFC — what comes through is just geometry

Through IFC

Archicad→IFC→Revit
  • Not parametric — reference geometry only
  • Not editable as native elements in Revit
  • Rooms and zones are unusable
  • Every change means a new export and re-import

With nodu.bridge

Archicad→nodu→Revit
  • Native, editable Revit elements
  • Parametric geometry and metadata preserved
  • Rooms and zones arrive as native Revit rooms
  • Fast updates — no files going back and forth
IFC remains the official deliverable format; day-to-day collaboration runs native to native.
nodu · The solution

nodu.bridge turns the Archicad model into native, editable Revit elements

No IFC file, no manual rebuild. Upload from Archicad, review in the browser, download into Revit.

  • Native Revit elements via the nodu Graph method
  • Parametric geometry and parameters preserved
  • Instant model updates — no files going back and forth
Available today: Archicad → Revit.
nodu.bridge — product demo
nodu · How it works

Three steps, no file ping-pong

01
Upload from Archicad
Selected elements — or, with nothing selected, the entire visible model — go up from a palette.
02
Review in the browser
The model can be shared with anyone by invite and reviewed element by element.
03
Download into Revit
Walls arrive as walls: with types, constraints and parameters.
nodu · Use case 1 · Renovation

Renovation shouldn't start from zero

Capturing the existing state — levels, survey points, walls, doors and windows — is where the time goes:

LevelsSurvey pointsWallsDoorsWindows
70%
time saved on as-built capture
nodu · Use case 2 · MEP

The MEP engineer in Revit shouldn't have to redraw every room

Through IFC · no room data

Archicad zones don't become usable Revit rooms — the MEP engineer redraws them.

With nodu.bridge

Rooms and zones arrive as native Revit rooms, with their data.

Archicad zones → native Revit rooms
nodu · The future

When every element comes through, the central Revit file updates as if we worked in Revit

ArchitectArchicad
→
Central Revit filelive updates, as if working in Revit
→
MEP engineerRevit
Structural engineerRevit
Today
Levels, survey points, walls, doors, windows, rooms, zones
Next
Every model element converts as a native Revit element
Goal
Direct updates into the central Revit file: MEP and structural don't remodel when the architect's Archicad model changes
nodu · The full nodu

What does nodu do when it's complete?

Bridge is the first step. The same connected model and project data drives every other module.
01

Version Generator

Rule-generated façade variants with panel layout and substructure, compared by cutting waste.

02

Data-driven decisions

Materials, finance and man-hours tied to the elements of the 3D model: every number in one place, from the model.

03

AI collaboration

Full digitisation makes it possible: with every model and dataset connected, AI queries, simulates and proposes — changes only with approval.

04

Forecasts

Monte Carlo simulation from the project's own data, with material prices and weather: deadlines and costs as probabilities.

nodu · Version Generator

The Version Generator creates façade variants — with panel layout and substructure

We define the materials; nodu generates the versions and calculates the cutting waste for each.

  • Panel patterns and version count in one window
  • Panels, profiles and brackets for every version
  • Comparison by cutting waste
Materials in
↓
Generated versions
↓
Ranked by cutting waste
nodu · In production at FDB

Engineering depth, digital communication, live project tracking

nodu is FDB's own in-house technology and engineering development — built to extend our structural and façade engineering capability, now going to market as a standalone product. Faster clash resolution, clearer communication between design, manufacturing and site, continuous visibility into project status.

  • A single coordinated model shared across designers, fabricators and site teams
  • Live project tracking via the FacadeModeler application within nodu — real-time visibility into fabrication and installation progress
nodu
nodu FacadeModeler — panel and model management
nodu · Digital delivery

Complex geometry, resolved before it reaches site

Curved and double-curved metal envelopes are coordinated digitally long before fabrication. Through nodu, models are reviewed in mixed reality with designers and site teams — reducing clash risk on complex geometry.

01Computational Design
02Scanning & Point Cloud
03Mixed Reality Review
Mixed-reality model review
Kútvölgyi Kórház — site video
Workshop & export · EVE Music Hall

One contract for the complete sculptural envelope

A concert hall whose envelope is a sequence of seven sculptural, curved "drapes". FDB is main façade contractor for the full envelope — design development, procurement, manufacturing and installation under a fixed-price contract, in Croatia.

9,000 m²
Curved BEMO envelope
7
Drapes, each its own geometry
Dec 2026
Scheduled completion
  • Standing-seam roof & façade on project-specific brackets
  • RAICO curtain walls and skylights integrated into the curved roof
  • Mirror-finish metal cladding, natural stone and HRS system
Drone — the drapes, August 2026
Workshop & export · EVE Music Hall — design intent, exterior

The architect's vision we are building

EVE Music Hall render 04
EVE Music Hall render 05
EVE Music Hall render 06
EVE Music Hall render 07
EVE Music Hall render 08
EVE Music Hall render 09
EVE Music Hall render 10
EVE Music Hall render 11
EVE Music Hall render 12
EVE Music Hall render 13
EVE Music Hall render 14
EVE Music Hall render 15
Architectural visualisations, 09/2025 — click any image to enlarge.
Workshop & export · EVE Music Hall — design intent, interior

The glazed foyer under the drapes

EVE Music Hall render 16
EVE Music Hall render 17
EVE Music Hall render 18
EVE Music Hall render 19
EVE Music Hall render 20
EVE Music Hall render 21
EVE Music Hall render 22
EVE Music Hall render 23
EVE Music Hall render 24
EVE Music Hall render 25
EVE Music Hall render 26
EVE Music Hall render 27
Architectural visualisations, 09/2025 — click any image to enlarge.
Workshop & export · EVE Music Hall — envelope packages

Every package, one coordinated model

Perforated mirror-finish cladding — detail
Stone cladding on the curved drape
Standing-seam drape & bracket substructure
Perforated mirror-finish panel — prefabrication
Foyer under the timber drape — cladding substructure
Curtain wall framing under the drape
Workshop & export · EVE Music Hall — how we deliver

From parametric drape geometry to installed panel

The same model drives design, our own workshop and site tracking — this is why we can compete on export markets.

01
Geometry
Drape surfaces rationalised in the parametric model; bracket layout and panel set-out generated per drape.
02
Approval
Structural approval drape by drape — fabrication released as each package is cleared.
03
Procurement
Direct coordination with BEMO Systems, RAICO and EJOT; brackets and secondary steel made to our drawings.
04
Fabrication
Standing-seam panels formed and curved to each drape's radius.
05
Site
Multi-crew installation running drapes in parallel; progress tracked per drape and package in nodu.
Drone — drape joint to full envelope, August 2026
Drone — from bracket detail to the full drape, August 2026
Workshop & export · AMALTEA · Horizon Europe

Our workshop is a European pilot: robotics, AI and data across the curtain-wall lifecycle

AMALTEA digitises the curtain-wall façade value chain from design through manufacturing and installation to disassembly and recycling. Solutions are validated in four pilots — one of them is FDB's digitalised façade manufacturing line in Hungary.

Programme
Horizon Europe Innovation Action
Duration
Jan 2025 – Dec 2028
Total budget
€11.2M (EU: €10.0M)
Consortium
15 partners, 8 countries · coord.: Tecnalia
FDB's role
Pilot 2 — digitalised façade manufacturing line
Focus
Less energy, material and waste; safety and quality
Source: CORDIS, Grant Agreement 101189678.
Robot cell in the FDB workshop
The robot cell in our workshop — mobile platform & timber panels
Tecnalia (ES)Univ. of Stuttgart (DE)Siemens (DE)Ed. Züblin (DE)Acciona (ES)UPM (ES)ENAR (ES)Lortek (ES)Rovimatica (ES)Henderson Robert (NL)Teknopar (TR)FundingBox (PL)Fasttrack (PT)FDB-Projekt Kft. (HU)
Workshop & export · AMALTEA — the pilot in pictures

Robots, cobots and site digital tools — tested on our line

Mobile robot platform in the FDB workshop
Digital twin — robot cell simulation
Collaborative robot — human-robot workflow
On-site installation robotics — concept
Rugged tablet & sensor glove for site crews
Handheld laser welding subsystem — LightWELD, IPG Photonics
Workshop & export · Network · Europe
Workshop & export · Network · World
Workshop & export · Portfolio

Selected references

1 / 3
TRIBE Budapest Airport HotelCurved banded composite envelope
1 / 3
CP3Colour-banded composite façade
1 / 4
NKE UniversityComposite fins, natural stone base
1 / 4
Nádorkert Railway StationCurved standing-seam roof canopy
Hilton Hotel, DebrecenComposite and fibre-cement
Ráday CollegeLarge-scale coordinated façade
Corvinus Campus, BudapestPrecision fine-concrete surfaces
H2OSpecial envelope soffit
Workshop & export · Why we can export

Why FDB

01

Proven parametric design

Parametric design resolves complex geometry with precision and speed — indispensable on demanding, non-standard building envelopes, and highly efficient even on everyday, standard-scope projects.

02

Single point of responsibility

FDB acts as main façade contractor: multi-supplier procurement, subcontractor coordination and fixed-price delivery to the end client.

03

In-house manufacturing

Own manufacturing facility for secondary components, flashing and detail elements — control over quality and schedule, independent of external suppliers.

04

Digital coordination for complex geometry

Computational design, BIM and mixed-reality review reduce clash risk on curved and double-curved envelope geometry before fabrication.

05

EU cross-border contracting

Facade Design & Building GmbH provides a German entity for direct, straightforward contracting with Western-European clients and main contractors.

Outlook · Open beta

The open beta is live — anyone can join

6

major international companies are testing nodu.bridge

10

architecture studios are using it on their own projects

We'll publish the first beta results soon.
Outlook
The machine doesn't replace people — it fills the missing workforce.
Design, workshop, site — on one graph, with human approval.
Closing · Try it

Free to try until 31 December 2026

1
Registerat nodu.build, with an e-mail address
2
Installone installer sets up every Archicad version; same for Revit
3
First uploadfrom Archicad, in a few minutes
nodu.buildThe QR code takes you there
Question to the room
If the algorithm decides, who is responsible?
Up next: Prof. Dr. Anita Boros — AI and legal liability
FDB × nodu

Thank you!

Krisztián Vatai Founder & CEO, FDB-Projekt Kft. · CEO, nodu vatai.krisztian@fdb-homlokzat.hu
nodu.build · fdb-homlokzat.hu