The goal of the call is to promote the development and implementation of innovative wood construction systems in Uruguay in order to improve climatic comfort and energy benefits of social infrastructure and reduce the terms and environmental and economic costs of construction.

The object of this Call is the architectural design project and subsequent construction of a health care center, or polyclinic, with three consulting rooms in the Municipality of Montevideo. The Polyclinic is part of the works projected within the framework of the Cauceglia Neighborhood Upgrading Program (Programa de Mejoramiento de Barrio, PMB). The building will be constructed using wood construction systems and will include the construction of 3 consulting rooms, 1 of them with bathroom, infirmary, administration and pharmacy, staff lounge with bathroom, storage room, waiting room with accessible bathroom. It also includes the construction of access structures, perimeter elements, and exterior landscaping,
among others.

The total amount available for the call for bids is 14,149,975 Uruguayan pesos (UYU), equivalent to 353,749 U.S. dollars (USD).

Complete information on the requirements to be met, approved systems and procedure are published in the call documents.

The jury will evaluate the winning proposals according to the indicated criteria with the support of the technical advisory commission.

Jury – award committee

– Marcia Croci, Wood Roadmap Coordinator, Ministry of Housing and
Territorial Developement MVOT
– Santiago Dávila, Neighborhood Upgrading Program PMB
– Patricia Varela, National Health Service Administration ASSE
– Giovanna Tedros, Municipality of Montevideo, IM
– Daniel Ibañez, Institute of Advanced Architecture of Catalonia IAAC, Spain

Technical Advisory Committee
– Carolina Pérez Gomar, MVOT Wood Office
– Federico Palermo, Neighborhood Upgrading Program PMB
– Gustavo Molina, National Health Service Administration ASSE
– Bernardo Martín, Udelar, Uruguay
– Juan Acevedo, Consultant, Inter-american Development Bank, Chile

The Madera competition is one of the ten actions of the Road map presented by the government of Uruguay in May 2022 to foster wooden construction for social housing and infrastructure. This competition calls for the construction of a healthcare center within a regularization project, following a call for a timber mid-rise building and a 20 unit low-rise settlement that closed in May 2023 (see the other Madera calls on Archdaily, results to be announced soon).