Innovation and added value define the Criba DNA

“We do things well, we are clear about our project, we know where we are going and that is worth a lot,” said Santiago Tarasido, CEO of Criba, in December 2022 and in the context of one of the five times that the company reached first position in the ranking of professional excellence of ARQ.

“We feel like a company that, although it has 70 years of experience, is young and permanently tries to innovate, to look for things that others do not, we see how to add value, we try from inside to be different. The one who votes the survey by there also sees it, feels it.

Cribe is about to turn 73, but Keep deepening its innovative profile. Also its permanence on the podium of the construction companies in that ranking.

When defining the Current moment From the firm, Tarasido refers to the variety of work in progress, “of diverse scalefrom works in which we turn large volumes of concrete to others that demand high level of quality in detail ”, which speak of the versatility of the company.

And he assures that they work to be “a reference of the world of construction, thinking with a much broader head than that of a construction company.”

Aspiration that has been profiling step by step, making emblematic projects of architecture studies such as Pelli (Repsol YPF Tower in Puerto Madero) and Foster & Partners (City Government House), among the works completed in Buenos Aires. And like the one that now occupies them in Uruguay, Cipriani Resort, Residences & Casino de Viñoly and with 54,000 m2.

Criba’s development strategy relies on innovation as a starting point and highlights flexibility between its attributes that generate value. It is specified in the Incorporation of technology and the development of method and planning. On the other hand, the firm promotes internal transformation in the structure of the equipment and organizational design.

In situations of change of rules of the game or macroeconomic or technology context, Criba seeks to anticipate: “We do their homework to be prepared for difficult times. In fact, we have grown in times of crisis – even tarasido – appealing to our DNA of being flexible against changes and going on constant evolution. ”

In that sense, the strategies were diverse. For example, invest strong in security, Incorporate BIM early (facilitating, among other benefits, the possibility of evaluating changes during the process quickly and comprehensively) or disembarking in Uruguay.

In parallel, the human capital area plans, together with those responsible for production, the assembly teams that meet a mix of experience, youth and adaptability.

In the day to day, “in each team there is an ever to see a new, more efficient way, look for changes, explore outside … When it reaches a change of rules, we are already adaptedS, we have tools, equipment depth. That is the identity that has carried out screening over time, ”emphasizes tarasido.

On the way, the company’s leaders are committed to giving a service that differentiates them, throughout. Tarasido says that he sieves “he understood very early that he should be a client allyand adapted his work philosophy and his quality as people to be on the same side of the table and see how to add value, together, instead of fighting for an additional work. ”

A dynamic that has crystallized in DiverSAS alliances with great developers To carry out projects together. This is the case of Raghsa for Le Parc Punta del Este; of Consultatio, with Huergo 475; and from Argencons, with Quartier Lacroze.

“We go out to offer a service where a tender is not necessary, where the developer claims to work with the best builder; and as a builder we are interested We were generating a business vision And we also contribute to that process, ”he says.

It was the case of Quartier + Colognewhere construction company, developer, projectors and advisors worked aligned from the earliest stage. Thus, Criba joined much before at the time of the tender, started working in documentation, in technical office and even in the management of municipal permits.

Criba aims to offer a “vision of an integral work, key in hand,” insists, as a differential value. And the company continues to shape Criba Real Estatea vertical that manages the stock of units product of third -party projects and own real estate developments.

At this point, Tarasido shares the sector’s concern for the progressive increase in construction cost measured in dollars and the pressure of the sale price that shrinks the margins of business.

“We are all looking for how to be more efficientHow to work faster and lower costs. Now, think that because you are going to bring two porcelain and a China team you will do the cheapest work it seems to me that it is a carafal error, ”he says.

And relevant again the systematic work and long term that generates learning with effect on efficiency, the shortening of work times (less fixed expenses) and where Scale purchases that allows them the volume of works that the company carries simultaneously is only one more piece of the gear.

“We are always looking for productivity. 20 years ago we made a 30 -story tower in which the entire stairs nucleus was performed with pre -olded concrete pieces that we were riding with a crane,” he recalls.

And clarify: “In Argentina we had many years in which if you wanted to add Too much technology, equipment or machines, did not compensate for you With what was the cost of labor, the equation did not close. ”

In turn, he considers that today the workforce relationship versus technology and cost of equipment changed: “it will make this type of thing in Argentina more sense. If someone doubted about the convenience of putting a crane in their work, today I think I should do it without hesitation.”

Technology also got into the work to relieve the production process in multiple aspects. “Today our people access through their phone and a QR code to the documentation that is in force, wherever and simultaneously, ”he says.

“Unfortunately and for many years, Argentina has been very locked in itself. Beyond the possibility of importing, that situation deprived you of the luxury of working on international projects. Hopefully now the new perspective closes us more to the world, ”says Tarasido. And explains that Cribe had already come out to look for those opportunities.

One of those projects was hinge in the history of the construction company. In 2010 he won the tender to build the new headquarters of the Ciudad Banco in Parque Patricios (current government house) in a Project and Price Modality that sought to shorten deadlines and achieve the best design at the lowest cost.

Cribe went to look for Norman Foster, an alliance that He approached best practices and knowing the latest technology.

On the first trip to London to adjust the project, the company worked together with the architects and the entire team of advisors.

“Before throwing a cubic meter of concrete in the work we went to the Canary Wharf station of the Met Sustainability of the project, to the specific concrete advisor. That is the touch that brings you this type of projects that, if you are locked in what happens in your local market, you will never have it – he says. Moreover, 15 years ago, they had 3D printers that they used to try options for parasols, they brought them printed at a time. ”

The interview advances and dusk in the offices of Criba, with a privileged view of the Obelisk and the Colón Theater. On the window of the window, among others, one of the distinctions of the first place in the ranking ARQ.

One topic arises after another, all interesting. To close, what do you see a client in screen?: “Beyond the price of the tender or the budget, it sees added service, efficiency, after -sales, guarantee, costs, times. A company that 73 years ago is perfecting a service, that must have an added value. ”