Build a building by pieces like a giant layman

In Zaragoza they are building a building that has not been built in Zaragoza. Sounds up word, but it is a rather accurate description of what the firm has done Metro7 In the middle of the Calle Mayor of the Aragonese capital. There their operators have raised a block of five floors (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 weeka 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 plot irregularly it has ‘sprouted’ in less than a week A new five -storey building, with its windows, facades, enclosures and even panels to grow a vertical garden outside. He Tuesday 11 The project responsible for the project, Metro7, reported that it had started with the first floor and this Monday explained during An interview With the chain being that at least the bulk of the most spectacular works has already ended. “In just five days this whole building has been mounted”, José Bailach stressed, Design Manager. 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 that can be seen in The images Published by the study itself is the level of finishing of the modules: they already include windows, exterior panels for a vertical garden, lamps and interior elements. The company It refers to the system as “100% modular construction Offsite” and defend also 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 those that refers The company 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 preparation and assembly phase of the hard modules “between three and four months”, As reported 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 some some 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 defend 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 already several years active and in Your website Informs projects in different cities. With the new Zaragoza block they want to gain notoriety, something that will probably help the building to become a hotel Minimal Suites of Four suites. Modular construction, with prefabricated or industrialized houses is not new either. There are specialized companies that concentrate 80% of the process of construction in their ships to complete the remaining 20% ​​in the work itself and in Spain there can already be examples, although They are far of being the majority formula in the sector. Its advantages, especially the speed, has also made it Administrations interesting In the model. Images | Metro7 (1 and 2) In Xataka | The obsession of Spain for black and white: all new construction buildings are becoming the same building

The Castor project was the great idea of ​​Spain to self -ability. Now you are selling it by pieces

Spain always has pursued concern around natural gas. More than 15 years ago its main sources were Algeria and Russia, but not to be energy dependent, the State promoted the Castor project. This initiative It arose as a possible response to face these challenges and reduce the vulnerability of the Spanish nation in the face of possible energy crises. However, a study confirmed That the gas injection of the year 2012 caused the earthquakes of Castellón, so a year later the Minister of Industry at that time ordered its closure. Now the current government has decided to sell it in parts. A little context. THE CASTOR PROJECT It was promoted by the Zapatero government and continued under the Rajoy Executive, being the ACS construction company, controlled by Florentino Pérez, responsible for the execution. The infrastructure was managed by the Concessionaire Escal Ugs, an ACS subsidiary. All this, He explains it Chronologically a citizen association that has denounced the case. How was it going to be? The Castor project consisted of an underwater natural gas warehouse located off the coast of Castellón, designed to store gas in an underwater deposit about 1,700 meters deep. It had the capacity to store approximately 1.9 BCM (billions of cubic meters) of gas and consisted of a marine platform, a gas pipeline of 30.3 kilometers in length, and a land plant in Vinaròs. And the problems came … Just for the earthquakes, was it closed? No, like Eldiario.es explained The initiative had a few challenges from the beginning. The reasons were different, such as their profitability, their environmental impact and the fact that it did not turn out to be as necessary as it had initially raised, given The great capacity of the regasifying of gas in Spain. Given this situation, the project was tried to sell in search of some type of economic solution. However, they did not find a solution to the problem, so finally the ACS company He abandoned it and the dismantling process began. A decade of the castor’s fiasco. Ten years later, the Castor project remains a clear example of billionaire failure. The submarine gas warehouse that ACS built In front of the coast of Castellón and Tarragona, it only operated in tests and never reached its full functionality. The result is known: an unusable infrastructure and a billionaire hole that has ended up paying the taxpayer, accompanied by a waterfall of judicial litigation without those responsible for being identified. Definitive closure. As They have advanced Different media, the third vice president and minister for ecological transition and demographic challenge, Sara Aagesen, has confirmed that the dismantling of the underwater warehouse will begin in May after the sealing of the thirteen underwater wells. In addition, what can be recovered from the project will be sold to reduce losses, which are encrypted by about 260 million euros. Why that figure? It all starts during the Rajoy government in 2014, which It was approved Express compensation of 1,350 million euros for the construction company ACS through a Royal Decree-Law. However, this compensation, which should be paid for 30 years through the gas bill, was declared unconstitutional in 2017, which paralyzed payments to financial entities. Finally, the State had to borrow to compensate the bank. The litigation began. During those years, the facilities have cost more than 100 million euros for more than 11 years, when the Concessionaire Escal Ugs resigned from the project. However, the National Court has forced ESPS, the company controlled by ACS, to return 209.7 million euros in “financial compensation” that charged between 2014 and 2017, after the judgment of the Constitutional Court that annulled the payments. However, it remains to be seen if the company will comply with this obligation, since Escal Ugs entered into a creditors’ contest In 2019. As for the criminal derivative, in 2021 the Castellón audience acquitted on step Already its directors of a crime against the environment and natural resources, a fact that underlines the lack of responsible for the Fiasco. A classic example of loss socialization. The Castor project is an example of “socialization of losses”, where the consequences of failure fell on the taxpayer, while financial entities, which had advanced money in exchange for charging it with interest for 30 years, were compensated by the State. Despite the controversies, the ACS company benefited from this compensation, despite the fact that its president, Florentino Pérez, declared that the project was a “misfortune” For his company, which represented only 1% of the ACS billing. A great legislative error. So it was indicated by the Independent Fiscal Responsibility Authority (Airef)as one of the most expensive in the energy sector, concentrating more than half of the compensation paid by the State in recent years. This case has evidenced the need to carry out more rigorous studies on the technical, economic and environmental viability of the projects, especially when they involve geological risks or impacts in local communities. In addition, it has evidenced the importance of greater transparency in decision -making and public fund management. Image | Zarateman and Albertodv Xataka | 2025 is the beginning of the end for gas boilers in Spain. European regulations have started its long withdrawal

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