Ruco Modular: Entrepreneurs from Valdivia create mini campers and modular shelters with wood
In EntrepreNerd, we chat with Belen Serra, one of the co-founders of Ruco Modular, a family-owned small business seeking to scale with their ecological innovations made from wood.
Since we arrived in Finland, we have realized the love and dedication they have for wood, creating various elements with it, but also considering the care of forests. And yes, because Finland is one of the countries with the highest amount of forests in the region and the concern for preserving them is truly admirable.
It is in this context that what a group of Chilean entrepreneurs are doing in Valdivia, Los RÃos Region (Chile), caught our attention - an area with natural attributes very similar to those that can be found in Finland. This is Ruco Modular, a Valdivian SME dedicated to sustainable and modular construction and architecture with wood.
At EntrepreNerd, we spoke with its creator Belén Serra, who gave us more details about this small to medium-sized enterprise looking to scale with their wood-made innovations.
What is Ruco Modular?
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Ruco is a workshop company, formed by two architects, myself, Belén Serra Cajas (37), an architect with studies in landscape design, and Renato Cancino Iturrieta (44), an architect and graphic designer. We are dedicated to producing spaces and objects in wood, developing proposals for minimal living, from furniture to small-scale buildings.
The entrepreneur adds that they use wood in its various forms, trying to optimize the use of boards in conjunction with more common pieces to diversify the offer, expand the available options, and create added value to the wood through design, beyond its species.
According to what Belén Serra tells us, their goal as a company is to be a rehearsal space, which allows them to expand the potential use of wood. It is our realm and we want to convey those possibilities to as many people as possible, so as to understand wood as a material of excellent performance as long as its use is relevant and well-projected.
We rely on CNC technology with router and laser, in order to improve and automate some processes, and thus increase our ability to test solutions and designs.
Belén Serra, co-founder of Ruco Modular.
HOW WAS THIS IDEA BORN?
"In 2017, we decided to establish our architecture studio in the south of Chile, primarily developing housing projects. In this environment, new complexities arose, associated with a much more demanding climate and a considerably smaller and less specialized human and material availability than in more central locations," Serra shares.
After several experiences, both good and bad, delays in deadlines and rising costs, they decided to seek an alternative that would allow them to improve these aspects. "We urgently needed to ensure efficient processes, more controlled and that made it possible to translate into work what we were projecting in our designs: this is how Ruco Modular was born," Belén tells us at EntrepreNerd.
"In 2020, we applied for a Corfo fund, which allowed us to assemble the first prototype and workshop with the CNC router. It was a big task because the pandemic made us rethink the entire roadmap we had drawn up, and forced us to take an active learning role regarding the tool and its functionality, to ensure its operation and the execution of our tests and prototyping," adds the co-founder of Rucco.
However, this led them to understand and test the options that their work provided, and to push their capacity for new designs and options.
DESIGNS OF OBJECTS AND FURNITURE.
Sara tells us that today they have three product lines, ranging from fixed shelters to objects and furniture. "In the shelters, the most representative model is the RP01, which is conceived as a self-contained micro-housing module, mainly for remote areas where electricity supply is a relevant issue," she explains.
In our country, there is a significant delay in the construction sector, and although the scale we are addressing is small, it is a very relevant step to incorporate technology that reduces this gap, even more so, when we are in a somewhat more remote area.
Belén Serra Cajas, co-founder of Ruco Modular.
Add that another of our lines is associated with the concept of mobility, with the TD01, our mini camper. This module is a cabin equipped with solar panels, housing a bedroom space that can be transformed into a workspace, in addition to a small kitchen at the back.
Finally, there is the line of furniture and objects that is beginning its production, which arises from the need and search to give value to the offcuts or remnants generated by larger products. This line includes children's furniture, home furniture, and also wooden objects such as passive speakers and some elements like SUP boards.
MINICAMPER: ECOLOGICAL INNOVATION.
The co-founder of Ruco Modular explains to us about one of their star products: The minicamper or the TD01, which despite its size, is a very complete space, is designed as a way to travel or do tourism.
According to Belén, the cabin has a clear width of 140 cm and a 190 cm mattress unfolds within it. This space also allows for the arrangement of a chair and table where a laptop can be placed for work-related uses or others. It comes with lighting, 4A USB charging ports and a 220V socket for the computer, in addition to the necessary equipment for the optimal use of solar panels.
"Meanwhile, at the back, it comes equipped with a small kitchen that includes a butane countertop, drum water supply, and a dishwasher with a gray water container that allows for easy disposal in a suitable place. Essentially, it is designed to comfortably accommodate a couple and a child," explains the entrepreneur from Rucco.
Belén explains to us that the minicamper could also be used by people who work remotely from their home or any location. Associated with this, we also see that there is a type of user who is an entrepreneur or a business, that needs a mobile office or a transportable space where they can display and promote their products and/or services. This makes a lot of sense in larger territories, where there may be an intensive tourist season and touring the area is an important task.
100% AUTONOMOUS SHELTER WITH THERMAL INSULATION.
Sara tells us about the RP01 shelter, which is in the process of manufacturing the first model. It is a space designed for environments of high landscape or ecological value, with very good construction characteristics in terms of thermal insulation in its envelope, so as to be comfortable and low impact.
Detail that, it is suitable for users between 1 and 3 people, it has a living-bedroom, a kitchen area with drinking water supply by jug and electric countertop, in addition to lighting and necessary network to operate.
"These devices are powered by electricity through photovoltaic panels and also include a solar collector for hot water. It's a proposal with applications in various fields, designed for people who have some connection with natural environments from conservation, scientific study, as well as sports or tourism in places with the described characteristics," explains Serra.
WHAT'S COMING FOR RUCCO MODULAR.
The co-founder explains that today they are focused on showcasing their solutions to associations or providers in the tourism sector, mountain sports, and also institutions that are related to the care and preservation of the environment, especially appealing to a use of natural places that is becoming increasingly intensive and therefore needs to be addressed by increasing care for the environment, which includes considering the way we build and operate within it.
"Today they are present in the region of ValparaÃso and Los RÃos, available to serve the macrozone between AraucanÃa and Los Lagos, and with the aim of covering Aysén. We are in discussions to achieve entry into more remote regions and even to cross the mountain range; the energy is especially focused on establishing alliances with institutions or groups that allow us to expand these solutions more consistently," it indicates.
We want to invite you to explore these new alternatives, to become part of what it means to achieve a good living space, and to understand their characteristics. As a society and users, we are very concerned about improving our habits and reducing our impact on the planet, and for that, it's crucial to implement good solutions for our spaces, so that in their use (which is the longest stage of a building's life), they demand a low amount of resources, concludes the entrepreneur from the Los RÃos region, Chile.