The former Central Post Office (now the CCK), the Bouchard Tower and the Plaza Hotel in Buenos Aires, the Burj Khalifa in Dubai, and the Empire State Building in New York are all iconic buildings that have something in common: they were built with steel structures. This material allows construction to be completed twice as fast as traditional methods, in a process that is more environmentally friendly.
While there are steel factories that sell building structures to construction companies or developers, there are only a few companies that carry out complete turnkey developments focused on this material.
The walkways at the Perito Moreno Glacier in Buenos Aires were also built with this material. “Steel is the best ally for speed,” says Lucas Salvatore, director and co-founder of the Salvatore Group, the company that ventured into this business and has been dedicated to steel construction for 30 years. They currently have 22 houses, 12 buildings, and a hotel under construction.
The businessman points out that these structures are built twice as fast as concrete ones, so while a building traditionally takes three years to construct, those made with steel can be completed in a year and a half. For example, this characteristic allowed them to build 10 hospitals of 1,000 square meters each in different provinces of Argentina for the United Nations in between 90 and 120 days in response to the outbreak of the coronavirus pandemic. In another case, the company received an order in January to build a hotel that must be ready in July at Cerro Catedral, meaning the entire construction must be completed in six months.
Salvatore recalls that the first time they proposed carrying out a project from beginning to end with steel - an idea they saw as commonplace in countries in the United States and Europe - they were "looked at like aliens".
But he persevered because he discovered a problem in the market that, from his perspective, steel could solve. “When we saw the complexity of traditional construction, coupled with missed deadlines and a lack of absolute certainty—considering that the trend is toward something much more reliable and environmentally friendly—we stopped being a steel structures company and became a turnkey company,” he summarizes, describing the paradigm shift his company implemented in 2016.
It's important to note that steel-framed construction is not the same as the system popularly known as steel framing . While both use steel as the primary material, the techniques are different. "The difference is that steel framing relies on the load-bearing capacity of the house provided by the walls and its lightweight profile structure, whereas in our case, we replace concrete with steel profiles in the column and beam structure," explains Salvatore.
The evolution of construction
For Salvatore, there are two fundamental factors that will redirect the course of construction over the next 10 years and that align with the advantages of building steel structures. “One is the greater awareness of climate change, both from the government and large economic groups,” he says, adding that steel leaves a smaller carbon footprint than concrete and is 100% recyclable.
The other factor is the generational shift, which, in his view, has an impact in three areas. First, he highlights the “loss of the craft passed down from father to son, the art of making handcrafted items, which is becoming increasingly rare.” Second, he noted the greater interest in sustainability among young people. “The third, and the most impactful, is the demand : I can’t imagine a 15-year-old today waiting two years to have their house built when they’re 25,” he says.
Salvatore also builds tiny houses —called SUMbox—which he assembles in 90 days, and the 21-square-meter ones cost US$25,000. “It is transported finished by truck and is relocatable, so the owner can put it in Pinamar in the summer and in Bariloche in the winter to take advantage of the high tourist seasons in each place,” explains the entrepreneur.
While it is a highly valued aspect, the businessman points out that "when we started with this, people told us that it was unfeasible to do it in this country and that in Argentina buyers want to pay in 80 months," he warns about one of the disadvantages of the material.
The long construction times for buildings, which typically take 36 months, allow for longer financing terms than those available for a steel structure, which takes half as long. However, Salvatore believes that today, with the country's current economic crisis, most buyers enter into payment plans with all the money in hand, since if they depended on monthly salaries to pay the installments, they would need to earn extraordinary salaries.
These are not the only striking aspects of the system. Precision is one of its advantages, and according to Salvatore, “having a precise framework is the key to industrializing the rest.”.
Salvatore explains that his business manufactures with highly precise machines and quality control systems, and then the finished product is assembled like a construction set. “If I’m off by more than 2 millimeters, the screw won’t fit, so my construction precision is 2 mm compared to the 3 cm precision of concrete. This means that the rest of what you want to industrialize, like walls and windows, must be very precise in order to manufacture it, transport it, and ensure it will fit,” he explains.
Steel constructions are also proving superior to traditional concrete structures in seismic zones . “Steel structures withstand the same load in both directions (tension and compression), unlike concrete. For example, if a steel structure made in Buenos Aires is transported to San Juan, it weighs between 10 and 15% more than a concrete structure, which would weigh twice as much,” Salvatore concludes.
In terms of costs, Salvatore indicates that prices are similar to those of traditional construction. The construction cost of a premium is around US$1200/m2, while traditional construction costs US$1605/m2, according to the latest report from Reporte Inmobiliario. However, with different materials, Salvatore believes that figure could drop to US$1000.
As for buildings, the cost remains competitive and the square meter of constructions made with steel averages US$900/m2 compared to the US$759 reported in December by Reporte Inmobiliario on the traditional method.
Source and photos: La Nación.
