Over the roofs of Lisbon

How MEVA came to Portugal and Neourbano forms its slabs

Until recently, Portugal, “Europe’s balcony” at the westernmost edge of the continent, was a blank spot on MEVA’s map. “Three years ago I received a phone call from Lisbon”, remembers Paulo Jorge, MEVA’s regional manager in eastern Germany, who was born in Portugal. At the other end of the line was Artur Santos, managing director of the construction company Neourbano Construções. He was familiar with and had a high opinion of MEVA’s formwork, having previously worked on construction sites in Germany, and had found the contact details for Paulo Jorges on the website.

A non-binding telephone call quickly developed into a deeper relationship: Paulo Jorge and Thomas Keck, the head of sales in Germany, invited a small Neourbano delegation to Haiterbach in order to get to know each other personally. The local restaurants were all closed at this time due to the coronavirus lockdown and it was necessary to improvise. The guests were entertained without further ado in MEVA’s Technikum showroom with platters of cold cuts and cheese. “An unforgettable and unconventional meeting”, reports Keck.

MevaDec for high expectations
The decision makers from Neourbano got to know the advantages of MevaDec and bought 2,400 m² of the slab formwork system as well as a corresponding quantity of EuMax props. Artur Santos appreciates the flexibility and efficiency of the slab formwork. He uses it Lisbon and the surrounding area mainly for residential development projects in the upper price segment. For example, the Monview project is currently underway on the hills of the capital city, with houses with eight to ten storeys, stringent architectural concrete requirements and a tight schedule.

The system is quick and easy-to-handle and can be flexibly adapted to suit every building layout and every slab thickness. We do a lot of work with concrete columns with different diameters. Due to the optimum panel size increments, we only have to deal with small filler areas in each case.

Artur Santos

The investment pays off quickly
The formwork market in Portugal is highly competitive and is mainly dominated by low-cost systems, which, however, offer a low level of quality and flexibility. Despite this, Neourbano has decided to use MevaDec “as a matter of conviction and due to the sum of its advantages, which, in the final analysis, provide a high degree of economic efficiency” (Artur Santos). That starts with the fact that the formwork predefines the prop spacing. This ensures safety, optimised material storage and efficiency on the construction site. Last but not least, Neourbano appreciates the possibility of employing three slab formwork methods – the drop-head-beam-panel, the primary- and-secondary-beam and the panel methods.

MEVA systems:

• MevaDec slab formwork
• EuMax props

Project:
“Monview” residential building, Lisbon, Portugal

Contractor:
Neourbano Construções, Lda, Milharado, Portugal

Engineering and support:
MEVA Schalungs-Systeme GmbH, Berlin office, Germany