Modular Industrialization with Local Poplar Timber: The VICHO Project as a Proximity-Based Sustainable Construction Model)

The European construction sector faces a convergence of three structural challenges: the climate emergency, a persistent shortage of affordable housing, and chronically low industrial productivity. Industrialized modular timber construction has emerged as a response to these pressures; yet prevailing models in southern Europe perpetuate a dependence on global supply chains—principally coniferous timber imported from Central Europe—that amplifies embodied carbon emissions and generates logistical vulnerabilities incompatible with territorial sustainability objectives.

This paper presents the VICHO project (Modular Housing in Local Poplar Timber), an applied research initiative developing a modular constructive-structural system based on local poplar (Populus x euramericana) from the Vega de Granada (Spain), building on two complementary peer-reviewed publications (VLC Arquitectura, 2025; Sustainability, 2026).

A systematic review of the European industrialized timber housing market (2015–2025) demonstrates that viability depends not only on material performance but on embeddedness in coherent industrial ecosystems and supportive regulatory frameworks. A comparative country analysis reveals that Spain, in the absence of dominant large-scale operators, presents favourable conditions for open, component-based industrialization models.

The VICHO system comprises three independent yet mutually compatible subsystems: (1) linear elements—laminated poplar beams and columns hybridized with Andalusian Corsican pine—developed within the LIFE Wood for Future project at the University of Granada (Spain); (2) planar elements—laminated poplar floor slabs and structural panels—performing load-bearing and rigid diaphragm functions; and (3) lightweight façade elements enabling variable configurations. Dry assembly through reversible connections and CNC prefabrication ensure agile erection and end-of-life disassembly, in accordance with Design for Disassembly (DfD) and circular economy principles.

The system is validated through a full-scale modular housing prototype installed in central spaces of the School of Architecture and the School of Building Engineering at the University of Granada, enabling direct technical evaluation and dissemination to students, researchers, and professionals. Timber is sourced from poplar plantations within the province of Granada (Andalusia, Spain), reducing LCA stage A4 transport emissions by over 90% compared to international supply routes exceeding 1,500–2,500 km.

The VICHO model additionally activates the local bioeconomy, supports the regional economy tied to the culturally significant poplar groves of the Vega de Granada, and lowers entry barriers for small and medium-sized enterprises. The paper concludes that competitiveness in southern European timber construction must be grounded in the coherence between local resource, industrial system, and regulatory framework—a proposition for which VICHO offers a coherent and replicable model, aligned with the New European Bauhaus and the Andalusian Urban Agenda 2030.