Our Design studio founded the Policronica factory in 2020 to carry out its own productions and wood processing. The factory is located in Rio Maior, in the Santarém region, 60 km north of Lisbon.
Policronica is situated in former industrial facilities that have been converted into a carpentry workshop. With an indoor area of 7000m2 and 10,000m2 of outdoor space, the facilities are organized into various sectors: wood cutting and drying, modular construction of wooden buildings, furniture production studio, and upholstery workshop.
Over 24 months, we developed the design of vacuum wood dryers powered by solar energy, enabling quick wood drying (one week after pre-drying "steaming"). These technical installations allow environmentally responsible wood processing. We mainly process eucalyptus sourced from the forests in the Santarém region. Eucalyptus is widely used in the paper industry. Thanks to vacuum drying, this wood, challenging to dry due to its high density and hardness, can be dried under conditions that significantly reduce deformation and cracks.