CMPC BUILDING
LOS ÁNGELES

An icon of sustainable construction.

The CMPC building in Los Ángeles is an icon of sustainable architecture for the use of wood in its construction, its heating/cooling systems, and the energy efficiency with which it operates.

This more-than-6,000-square-meter project was designed by the Izquierdo Lehmann office and built almost entirely of wood. The main building, used for administrative offices, is elevated off the ground (something very unusual in Chile when working with wood.) Niuform (formerly Cortelima) provided materials such as CLT panels, as well as Radiata Pine pillars and laminated beams.

The wood used in the construction of the building comes from CMPC's forests, which are managed and certified under the FSC® standard.

DATA SHEET CMPC CORPORATE BUILDING:

Year: 2018
Architect: Luis Izquierdo
Client: CMPC
Type of construction system: Glulam Frame Structure, CLT Slabs
Materials: 1,047 m3 Glulam - 870 m3 CLT
Installation Time: 240 days
Location: Los Ángeles, Chile

The main building is a wooden pavilion measuring 203 meters long and 16 meters wide.

Regarding the use of wood as an essential requirement for its construction, architect Izquierdo Lehmann said: "It wasn't a requirement that it should be made out of wood. However, it seemed quite natural for us to take advantage and show off this element in CMPC's corporate building. We're talking about cross-laminated Radiata Pine. The whole process of manufacturing the pieces was industrialized. Using high-precision to create perforations and castings, with millimetric precision, the complete building was prefabricated. It was then moved as a kit for on-site assembly."

* Because of its size, the building has become an icon in the world of architecture - the first of its kind to be built in Chile.

It has 510 open workstations, meeting and service rooms in enclosed areas, an auditorium, cafeteria, and laboratories, as well as technical and storage areas.

This building accommodates 470 employees.

This building is innovative at the national level when you consider that wood construction is still not widely used in Chile. That's why the building has obtained international certifications such as LEED (Leadership in Energy & Environmental Design) and FSC® (Forest Stewardship Council, which endorses the traceability of the wood), in addition to the national CES (Sustainable Building Certification).

All this positions the building as a symbol of sustainable construction at the national and continental levels as it benefits the environment through carbon sequestration, reduces water/electricity consumption and radically reduces emissions that occur when using alternative materials such as steel, aluminum or cement.