The building will have seven floors and will feature a construction system that promotes energy efficiency and speed in its construction.
In a year, Uruguay will have the tallest wooden building in Latin America, thanks to the company Arboreal, a project that required an investment of nearly 60 million dollars and that would position the country as a reference in both small and large-scale wooden construction.
With a height of seven floors and a construction system that promotes energy efficiency and speed in its construction, the company Arboreal – composed of a Uruguayan investor and an American one – will be in charge of carrying out this project. Arboreal decided to venture into the Mass Timber business (solid wood construction) in 2021 when it acquired a Uruguayan sawmill located in Tacuarembó.
The American investor Mark Crandall and the Uruguayan Matías Abergo, president of Arboreal and CEO of Enkel Group specialized in Mass Timber construction, bought the Frutifor Lumber Company sawmill for over 25 million dollars. They then invested around 12 million dollars in the installation of wood drying plants and automatic wood board sorting, and another 22 million dollars in a new CLT plant, reaching almost a total of 60 million dollars, as reported by Uruguay XXI.
This investment added to the transformation of Uruguay’s wood production matrix, positioning it in the global CLT market, and also contributed to increasing the sawmill’s drying capacity, doubling its production, and benefiting wood input exports for construction.
The construction will take place in the department of Durazno, will have seven floors, and is expected to be ready by next year, specifically by October 2024, with a construction duration of 290 days. The building is part of the 40 Mass Timber construction projects expected to be carried out in Uruguay between 2024 and 2025, as explained by the Uruguayan investor.
Faster and less polluting constructions
The Mass Timber wood processing system allows for the construction of tall buildings, houses, housing complexes, sports centers, medical institutions, schools, among others, using wood. Walls built with this process allow for walls to be made in a single panel of up to 30 centimeters thick, which has several advantages.
Firstly, it contributes to the decarbonization of construction – responsible for 40% of carbon emissions in the environment – and also allows for better thermal insulation compared to concrete and steel, while also acting as a natural moisture regulator. Furthermore, it allows for a “fitting” style system, which favors execution times. This system includes precision cutting robots, which allow the pieces to be quickly transported and assembled.
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“Uruguay will have the tallest wooden building in Latin America”. Ambito.com, https://www.ambito.com/uruguay/tendra-el-edificio-madera-mas-alto-latinoamerica-n5846577.
