The building that this Thursday was devoured by flames in Valencia, and in which at least four people have died, began to be promoted in 2006 and was completed in 2008, in the middle of the real estate boom, in the northwest of the city, next to to the old bed of the Turia river, already converted into a garden.
The neighborhood, Nou Campanar, grew next to the old Campanar and around a symbol, a falla presided over by a real estate businessman, which stood out for being the most expensive monument in the city for years.
The failure, like the real estate furor, entered into crisis years later.
So did the real estate company that designed the building, Fbex, which went bankrupt, declared itself insolvent and, in 2010, filed for bankruptcy with 640 million in debt.
The development, financed by Banesto, passed into the hands of the bank.
The building had 138 “privileged homes,” with one, two and three bedrooms, according to the construction company's promotional video, made with “excellent materials and top quality finishes.”
The design of the complex, in two buildings, with 14 and 10 floors, joined by a panoramic elevator, was built with facades “covered with an innovative
alucobond-type aluminum material,”
according to the same video.
In addition to the development of Nou Campanar, Fbex built another building just two kilometers away, the one known as the Navis tower, with 20 floors and 162 homes, but already in the municipality of Mislata.
This one, like the one devoured by the fire yesterday, was covered with
alucobond,
the
composite
that includes synthetic material.
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Latest news on the fire in Valencia
This material is made up of a panel made up of two aluminum sheets and an insulating filler, which can be more or less flammable.
As revealed yesterday by the specialist who inspected the building a few years ago, Esther Puchades, the façade, in addition to the
composite,
contained polyurethane as interior insulation.
This Friday, Puchades herself stated that she does not know what insulation material she used but that, in any case, some of the façade materials had plastic components, and it caught fire quickly.
The secretary of the Rigid Polyurethane Industry Association, José Manuel Fernández, states that there is an error in this assessment and that there is no polyurethane in the building.
“There is rock wool (or glass wool) in the air chambers and the coating is an
aluminum
composite with polyethylene.
That is, behind the aluminum sheets there is mineral wool, not polyurethane,” he insists.
The company assured in its video that the finishes and equipment passed “rigorous quality controls during the building process.”
“They forgot to say that each panel only had 0.5 mm of aluminum compared to 5 mm of solid polyethylene,” the architect and former socialist deputy in the Valencian Parliament David Calvo wrote this Thursday on the social network X (formerly Twitter).
Calvo explains that these are the standard dimensions of the material, with 10 times more filling than aluminum.
It is a legal and regulated element “but, as happened with the uralite at the time, it is harmful,” says Calvo, who practices in the same city of Valencia and raises to “hundreds” the number of buildings that were built with this same solution.
“It was a trend in the first decade of the 2000s, he attests, “it was how buildings with a lot of surface area, a modern aesthetic and quick installation were resolved.”
“It burned like a fault,” he says.
The architect maintains that not only in Valencia.
Throughout Spain there are thousands of buildings with the same coating, since it has good thermal performance for both insulating cold and heat.
“In addition, it was unthinkable in those times to make a building with exposed brick, which was linked to a lower social stratum and to previous times,” he says.
Neighbors observe the buildings affected by the fire, this Friday. Mònica Torres
A firefighter inspects one of the burned homes, this Friday. Mònica Torres
The President of the Government, Pedro Sánchez (center), upon his arrival this Friday in the area affected by the fire in Valencia.
Monica Torres
Facade of the burned-out residential building in Valencia, this Friday.
Monica Torres
A man sweeps the ashes caused by the fire this Friday on a terrace near the burned-out building.
EVA MANEZ (REUTERS)
Burned terraces in a block of flats in Valencia, this Friday.
Monica Torres
The president of the Generalitat of Valencia, Carlos Mazón (in the center), and the Valencian mayor, María José Catalá (on the left), Friday next to the Advanced Command Post located next to the damaged building.
Monica Torres
Two firefighters work next to the burning building in Valencia, this Friday. Mònica Torres
A woman shows remains found in her house from the Campanar building fire. Mònica Torres
State of the burning building in the Campanar neighborhood, this Friday.
Monica Torres
Firefighters work in one of the buildings affected by the fire.Mònica Torres
Many people have come to leave clothes, blankets and shoes for the neighbors affected by the fire, this Friday in Valencia. Biel Aliño (EFE)
Burnt-out homes in a building in Valencia, this Friday.
Monica Torres
Firefighters continue working this Friday after the devastating fire in a residential building in Valencia.
Biel Aliño (EFE)
Several firefighters work next to the burned-out homes in a residential building in Valencia, this Friday.
Monica Torres
Emergency personnel work next to the burned-out residential building in Valencia, this Friday.
Monica Torres
Two people wait on the balcony to be rescued during the fire. Mònica Torres
Two people wait on the balcony to be rescued during the fire.Manuel Bruque (EFE)
Firefighters are preparing to rescue two trapped people. Mònica Torres
Two people trapped in the fire give the ok signal to the firefighters. Mònica Torres
The couple rescued by firefighters during the fire.Monica Torres
Several neighbors observe the burning building. Mònica Torres
The president of the Generalidad Valenciana, Carlos Mazón (in the center), and the mayor of the city, María José Catalá (on the right), in the vicinity of the fire.
Manuel Bruque (EFE)
A team of firefighters works during the fire. Mònica Torres
Ambulances and police officers in front of the burning building. Mònica Torres
A firefighter tries to put out the burning building, in the Campanar neighborhood of Valencia, this Thursday.Eduardo Manzana (Europa Press)
Adriana, the administrator of the property, in the vicinity of the building. EVA MANEZ (REUTERS)
View of the fire declared in a residential building in Valencia. Mònica Torres
An agent observes the burning building.Eduardo Manzana (Europa Press)
Detail of the facade of the burned building. Mònica Torres
Neighbors watch the apartment block burn in Valencia. Alberto Saiz (AP/ LaPresse)
Flames devour the building in the Campanar neighborhood. Alberto Saiz (AP)
The field hospital set up on General Avilés Avenue. EVA MANEZ (REUTERS)
A column of smoke rises from the burning building.
Manuel Bruque (EFE)
Neighbors in the vicinity of the building affected by the flames. EVA MANEZ (REUTERS)
Flames devour two buildings in the Campanar neighborhood.Eduardo Manzana - Europa Press (Europa Press)
Firefighters spray the apartment block as it burns.Alberto Saiz (AP/ LaPresse)
General view of the burned building. Alberto Saiz (AP/ LaPresse)
Firefighters work on the fire declared in the Campanar neighborhood.
Manuel Bruque (EFE)
The flames devour the roofs of the building's façade.
Monica Torres
General view of the fire declared around half past five this afternoon.Manuel Bruque (EFE)
Neighbors watch the burning building.
Monica Torres
Emergency services attend to a neighbor evacuated from the burning building.
Monica Torres
Back of the burning building in the Campanar neighborhood. Mònica Torres
The flames devour the 14-story building in the Campanar neighborhood, in Valencia, between Maestro Rodrigo and Poeta Rafel Alberti streets. Mònica Torres
Column of smoke over the building, in the first moments of the fire.
Monica Torres
View of the fire in a building in the Campanar neighborhood, in Valencia.112 Valencia
All rooms in the homes, except the bathrooms, were exterior.
This caused the flames, which spread along the façade, to directly affect the rooms and lounges where there are many other flammable elements.
According to the promotional video, the homes had floating parquet made of beech wood, “a material that is still plastic,” says David Calvo.
Furthermore, technical engineer and building installations expert David Higuera believes that the interiors must have also had other construction materials that encouraged the spread of flames and that the damage to the ceilings can only be explained by the use of combustible insulation.
The air conditioning, according to the promotional video, was through ducts, which did not help to quell the flames either.
The building had a ventilated façade ―with a chamber between the structure and the insulation―, for which the placement of firebreaks between floors is currently required, precisely to prevent, in the event of a fire, the flames from rising or falling as easily as possible. They have done it in the Valencia building.
However, at the time the building was constructed, the new building code had not yet come into effect, which is more restrictive than the previous one regarding the use of materials.
It had been approved in 2006, but there was a transition period until it was mandatory.
Furthermore, all those who had requested leave before, as was the case in this case, were not subject to it.
Residential buildings do not require a fire escape: the building's own escape route is what acts as an escape route.
The current building code requires, however, that the walls of these stairs be made of materials with high fire resistance.
The building passed an inspection when the work was completed, in 2008, at which time an architect certified that what was built responded to the project submitted for the construction license application.
Its age did not require further inspections.
In any case, as Calvo describes, the use of that material would have passed any control because it is legal.