The venture capital arm of Mexican cement giant Cemex has joined with Spanish industrial-construction company Grupo Avintia to establish a company dedicated to panelised offsite housing in Spain.
Called Wallex, the company will aim to manufacture some 1,000 homes a year at an 8,000-sq-m factory in Carabias, Segovia, with operations due to begin this December.
Announcing the launch today, the companies said it would be the first such factory in the country, and would reduce construction time by around 30%.
For the panels, Wallex will use Cemex’s Resilia and Insularis concretes, which Cemex says offers greater strength with less thickness, and does away with plastic insulators.
Wallex will use Grupo Avintia’s ÃVIT-A panelised offsite manufacturing system (pictured), with the objective being for 75% of a building’s structural elements to arrive onsite ready for assembly.
"This will allow us to offer the market a quality response, non-existent in our country, to the current and future demand of the real estate sector in terms of production capacity and compliance with deadlines and budget," said Antonio MartÃn Jiménez, chairman of Group Avintia.
"Offsite construction can solve the great challenges of the sector," added Gonzalo Galindo, head of Cemex Ventures, "but for this, it is essential to develop an advanced, solid, and quality industrial fabric.
"We have seen numerous offsite construction solutions worldwide. This alliance between Grupo Avintia and Cemex Ventures is a real and determined response to a more efficient and sustainable construction."
Image: Wallex will use Grupo Avintia’s ÃVIT-A panelised offsite manufacturing system (Grupo Avintia)
