Interview Architect Alicia Álvarez Iturregui | Ambiente Ecológico

- How have you faced the process of development of wooden houses?

- We started knowing what we didn't have to do: Emulate or resemble the old prefabricated ones. On the contrary, we had to show a use of wood related to quality designs and at the same time accessible, although the image should be dazzling and as a lot of money had been put into that project, an important issue for the area where we operate (Pinamar / Cariló), where the constructions are large. We achieve quality homes at very reasonable costs and designs that border on the artistic.

- What kind of wood do you use?

- On the pine walls with simple treatment and normal squares and on the floors with double treatment and generous squares so that people do not have the feeling of stepping on weak surfaces. In the columns we use hardwoods, for generally cedar openings. But we are not orthodox, we try to solve the problems with the greatest efficiency. We also use phenolic multilaminates for some internal panels, where we place the tiles, etc.

- What difficulties have you encountered in developing this type of construction?

- The labor. There are few people one can dispose of. And also the little experience of the national industry. For example, the adaptation of nails to the salinity of the air or specific paints for wood.

- What other types of construction do you do in wood?

- We have carried out two commercial walks: one in Pinamar and another one in Villa Gesell, both of them completely made in wood. In these cases, the variables we take into account for its design are different from those of a house. If in a house we try to give it an own identity according to the demands of each client, in the commercial constructions it varies. We believe that a commercial walk has to have specific virtues that generate a special attraction, a certain magic, which is achieved by paying a very particular attention to the elaboration of details, with a very careful scale and a careful selection of materials. And all this takes a lot of time and work.

- What repercussions have these undertakings had?

- From a real estate point of view, they were the most sought-after in their respective opening seasons. They even set trends. Since the opening of Paseo "Las Victorias" (season 93/94) in Cariló, people in the area started to look at wood in a different way, to trust wood as a building material and tended to new uses for their properties.

Source: Ambiente Ecológico | First Portal in Spanish dedicated to Research, Development and Dissemination of Environmental Issues, Quality of Life, Science and Technology