Architectural precast concrete elements from Fuente Palmera in Andalusia

The distance between the Bauverlag headquarters in Gütersloh, Westphalia and the Prefesur site in Fuente Palmera, near the city of Córdoba in southern Spain, is only 2,000 km as the crow flies and yet it seemed to the BFT editor as if one were in another world. In early May, while there was still night frost in many parts of Germany, the destination in Andalusia presented itself in brilliant sunshine and midday temperatures of almost 30 °C. Following a journey through what appeared to be endless olive plantations, the Prefesur company site came into view on the Carretera A-440. The front part of the site accommodates the precast plant, while the metalworking company Estructuras Metalicas/Hierros Fuente Palmera is located in the rear area of the site in a second factory hall. Both divisions belong to the Grupo Estructuras. Prefesur manufactures on a production area of around 4,000 sq. meters with six production lines and the aforementioned two halls, and all of this under the control of a certified and tested management system according to ISO 14001: 2004 and ISO 9001: 2008.

Prefesur S.L. (full name: „Prefabricados y Ferrallas del Sur, S.L.U.“) was founded in 2001 and is an established precast concrete element company focusing on architectural concrete wall elements, in particular for the market in southern Spain. Further product divisions include precast concrete elements for industrial construction, prefabricated stadium grandstands, columns, beams, components for noise barriers and other structural elements. CEO José Manuel Hens Becerra says: „Modern industrial companies are looking not only for quality and functionality, but also for design and aesthetics. With our system, we offer everything that the market demands and produce under the supervision of strict quality controls and a department of qualified technicians. Apart from that we offer our customers the complete engineering, manufacturing and commissioning service.“          

Architectural concrete wall elements

The high quality can already be found in the raw materials and runs like a thread through to the end product: All materials used have a CE mark. White or grey CEM I 52 R cement is used without exception; the aggregates come from regional suppliers. Admixtures and color pigments come in part from international suppliers.

The architectural concrete wall elements are characterized by the fusion of architecture and technology, i.e. the combination of aesthetics and durability. There is barely a hue that is not available and there is an impressive variety of surface finishes that are achieved, for example, using various finishing methods or form liners from Reckli. These surfaces look deceptively like much more expensive natural stone.

The reference object examples range from 3,600 sq. meters of black façade panels with a grooved texture for a company sports center near Hormiplacas del Sur in Algeciras near Gibraltar, through more than 1,500 sq. meters of exterior wall panels with a white leather look for Jarquil S.A.‘s technology center in nearby Palma del Río, to the manufacture and assembly of 1,300 sq. meters of prefabricated façade panels with a thickness of 14 cm with a grey and white surface for the shaping of an inclined façade of a mortuary in Cartaya near Huelva.

Precast concrete elements for industrial construction

The list of successful reference projects in industrial construction is just as long and architecturally designed precast concrete elements are also used for this segment – hence, these are anything but merely functional buildings. 4,500 sq. meters of grey panels were delivered for the water treatment plant at Arte y Hormigonado S.L. in Estepona near Málaga, while 2,500 sq. meters of external panels in white with textures were supplied for the woodworking factory at Formac S.L. in Aznacollar near Seville. Prefesur delivered and mounted 5,000 sq. meters of grey washed vertical panels for the neighboring company Paribego S.L. in Fuente Palmera; it was 3,600 sq. meters of horizontal panels in a standard version for a logistics hall belonging to Grupo Palmero Alcalá de Guadaira/Seville, while the 2,500 sq.-meters white concrete façade of Hormiplacas del Sur S.L. was erected for the sherry bodegas Estevez in Jerez de la Frontera.

A particularly extensive reference object from the further products area was the manufacture and assembly of 600 prefabricated grandstand elements in the football stadium in Moriles for Diputación de Córdoba. Many other successful object examples can be found in particular in Andalusia, some even in Morocco and the Spanish exclave of Ceuta (North Africa).

No less impressive are the references of the metal construction division Hierros Fuente Palmera in the second factory hall, although the production is not considered any further in BNT as a trade journal for precast concrete elements. Many successful object examples can now be found above all in Spain itself, but also in Portugal, Morocco, Algeria, Panama, Mexico and Argentina. The broad clientele includes, for example, companies such as Ferrovial, Acciona, BioOils, Ortiz Construcciones, Grupo Hiemiesa, Grupo Cosimet, Molino del Gentil, Magtel, FCC Industrial or Strugal.