In Zaragoza they are building a building that has not been built in Zaragoza. It sounds like words, but it is a rather precise description of what Metro7 firm has done in the middle of the Aragonese capital. There their operators have raised a five -storey block (335 m2 built) that will host a hotel with four suites and an office that will occupy the architecture study itself.
The surprising thing is how long they have taken: the structure has taken shape in less a week, a record time they have achieved thanks to their “construction system offsite“The term may not say much, but basically it consists of stacking modules that Metro7 manufactures in a ship located outside Zaragoza. Yes, just like a huge lego.
And that building? That is probably the question that many Zaragozanos have been asked that these days have passed through Calle Mayor. In a small irregular plot has ‘sprouted’ in less than a week a new five -story building, with its windows, facades, enclosures and even panels to grow a vertical garden abroad.
On Tuesday 11, the firm responsible for the project, Metro7, reported that it had started with the first floor and this Monday explained during an interview with the SER chain that at least the bulk of the most spectacular works has already ended. “In just five days this whole building has been mounted,” said José Boilach, head of Design. Moreover, its goal is to open May 7.
How did they do it? With modules. Like a XXL of Lego game. If the construction has advanced so fast in the urban center of Zaragoza it is because before the company was in charge of advancing work on its nave of Pinseque, a town located about 20 kilometers from the capital Maña. There the Metro7 team prepared a dozen and a half of modules that then moved to the plot of the works to mount them with the help of a crane.
One of the most curious details and that can be seen in the images published by the study itself is the level of finishing of the modules: they already include the windows, exterior panels for a vertical garden, lamps and interior elements. The company refers to the system as “100% modular construction offsite“And it also defends that its buildings are” sustainable. “” Each plant, about 35 m2, is composed of three modules that are transported completely finished. Our team assembles in situ “.
Everything ready in a week? Not quite. The “five days” to which the company refers are only part of the project, essential, but insufficient. The works to create the building started much earlier and do not end with the placement of the last module. Before the company has to prepare the pieces, carry out load tests and transfer the prefabricated elements to the plot. His purpose in this case, once there, was to set a new plant every day.
In total the phase of preparation and assembly of the hard modules “between three and four months”, according to the company itself The Aragon newspaper, A time that also took the opportunity to advance in the foundation in the plot. After all, prefabricated pieces are not the only ones that make up the building. In the plot itself, the foundations were built, the ground floor and a space for the elevator.
How long does it take in total? If we add that time, the assembly of the modules and the days that are invested in the finishes and complete the assembly, the construction of the block would take about five months. There are not five days, but of course it is less than it would take to build a similar block following the traditional construction system.
Bailach defends the advantages of the model. To start with the “security” that, he says, offers operators during construction. He also insists that the time cut even benefits the neighbors, subjecting them less months of noise, transfer of machines, traffic cuts and the rest of the inconvenience that usually takes the construction of a hotel of several floors.
Is it a novelty? With its new construction Metro7 aspires to give more visibility to its construction system offsite With prefabricated modules, but the truth is that it is not a newcomer to the sector. The firm has been active for several years and in its website reports projects in different cities. With the new Zaragoza block they want to gain notoriety, something that will probably help the building to become a MINIMAL SUITES HOTEL OF FOUR SUITES.
Modular construction, with prefabricated or industrialized houses is not new either. There are specialized companies that concentrate 80% of the construction process in their ships to complete the remaining 20% in the work itself and in Spain examples can already be found, although they are far from being the majority formula in the sector. Its advantages, especially the speed, has also made administrations interested in the model.
Images | Metro7 (1 and 2)
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