Our Projects
HISTORY AND TRAJECTORY OF EDIFICAR
Edificar was founded in 1984, as a construction company that began its journey as a general contractor and project manager of hospitality, industrial, commercial, and residential projects.
Edificar has been characterized as a transparent, flexible, and innovative company; capable of developing projects of great complexity and scale as it works with strict quality standards.
Since its origins, Edificar has established a relationship of trust with its clients by guaranteeing them ethical, transparent, and responsible work; this has allowed to create long-term relationships and multiple projects within same clients.
EDIFICAR OVERVIEW
In Central America, the company has built over 3.5 million square meters, for all types of projects, with prominent projects in the hospitality and medical industries.
With its offices in San José (Costa Rica) and Panamá City (Panamá), Edificar manage projects throughout the region and seeks to differentiate itself from the conventional construction company and participates as an advisor to its clients by getting involved, many times, from the previous stages to construction.
Since its origins, those who are part of Edificar have acted according to ethical values, service, technology, protection of personnel and the environment. Always with the commitment to continuous improvement, excellence, and punctuality in the delivery of projects.
One of the pillars of the company has been staying at the technological vanguard, both in construction methods and digital tools; for this reason, Edificar has incorporated innovative and state-of-the-art systems in each of the stages of project development and in its internal processes.
The company maintains strict management systems certified under ISO 9001 (Quality Management), ISO 45001 (Health & Safety) and Carbon Neutral (Environment) standards.
In addition, Edificar has been characterized as a pioneer in the implementation of the BIM Methodology and virtual construction processes in both construction and pre-construction projects. At the same time, in response to the modern challenges of the industry, the company has developed knowledge and experience in the “Design-Build” processes and tenders, as coordinator and builder.
Leading companies in the regional and world market, both from the public and private sectors, make up the clientele that Edificar has supported over the years.
MISION
We are a company committed to providing delivering the best services in the construction industry.
VISION
Edificar seeks to be the preferred construction company in the market where it develops its operation, delivering the highest quality with the best cost and time frame, through a continuous process of improvement and with the best possible team, maintaining high standard values of ethics, service, and social responsibility.
History
ITS ORIGINS
In 1984, Edificar was founded with the name of Rapiparedes S. A., by the civil engineers Mariano Monge, Juan José Castro and Román Salazar. Originally, the company was dedicated to the construction of the concrete structure and the electromechanical preparations of the buildings. In 1987, under the leadership of the engineers Castro and Salazar, the company decided to venture on all aspects of the construction process for buildings. For this reason, the company name was changed to “Edificadora Centroamericana Rapiparedes S. A.” or Edificar S. A.
Since its beginning, the founders wanted the company to forge a name themselves where ethics, service, innovation, technology and “always doing more” was the differentiating factor that set them apart from the rest of the market.
DEVELOPMENT OF THE BUSINNESS
Edificar had a moderate growth during the 1980s and 1990s, dedicating entirely to construction projects for the private sector in Costa Rica. However, at the end of the 1990s, an exponential growth for the company starts with an emblematic project for the luxury tourism industry in Central America: Marriott Los Sueños Hotel in Playa Herradura, Puntarenas, Costa Rica.
In the year 2000, the construction starts for the Four Seasons Resort at the Papagayo Peninsula, Guanacaste, Costa Rica; a world icon of tourism. In this project, Edificar managed more than 2,500 workers on the construction site and proved with great success its capacity for great scale construction projects.
In addition, in the first half of the 2000´s decade, Edificar began the construction of facilities for the medical industry and clean rooms where it is one of the leaders today. Segment where, at the present time, Edificar is the leader.
As part of the company growth, a new partner was incorporated, this being one of the most solid companies in the tourism sector in Costa Rica and, at the same time, one of Edificar’s oldest and most constant client.
In 2008, Edificar expanded to Panamá and created a permanent construction office. Since then, the list of projects that held the company’s seal in that country is big, highlighted the ITSE Project (built as part of a consortium), with almost 130,000 m2 of construction, Envases del Istmo, the Logistics Center for Evergreen in Colón, among others.
To continue growing, a new partner joined the company around the middle of the second decade of 2000, which enables Edificar currently holding four partners who represent different business groups with great experience and solidity.
Edificar is constantly growing and improving, expanding into new markets, and innovating to stay at the leading-edge of the construction industry.
Events
Foundation
Transfer to current offices in Costa Rica
Edificar obtains ISO 9001 Certification
Edificar obtains OHSAS 18001:2007 9001 Certification
First permanent office in Panama
Delivery of the first work in Panama, Soleo Residential Building
Formally establishes the virtual Construction Department
Offices relocated to Costa del Este
Edificar becomes the first ISO 45001: 2018 certified construction company
Edificar meets 10 years of continuous presence in St. Jude
Projects
Hotel Marriott Los Sueños
Arcelor Mittal Industrial Plant
Hotel Four Seasons Papagayo
Vista Las Palmas
St. Jude Medical
Coyol Free Zone
Hotel Andaz
Enrique Jimenez Airport, Colon, Panama and Scarlett Martinez Airport, Rio Hato Panama
Centro Zone Shopping Center
Azenza Towers
After 15 years Edificar returns to the Hotel Four Seasons for a total hotel renovation
Pearl Island
Santa Ana Country Club is the first project to get an ecological blue flag award in the category of sustainable construction
Higher Specialized Technical Institute, Tocumen, Panama
Technological University of Panama, Levi Sasso Campus
Our Numbers
Our Numbers
Our Experience
Executive team
rsalazar@edificaronline.com
Román Salazar is one of the founding partners and director of Edificar since its creation. Among the most important challenges of his career, we can mention the great growth that the company has had since its foundation in 1984 and the supervision of the most demanding project in the history of Edificar: Four Seasons Hotel in the Papagayo Peninsula. Román has a degree in Civil Engineering from the Universidad de Costa Rica and a Master's in Business Administration from Florida National University. He currently serves as Chairman of the company's Board of Directors and remains involved in project management.
jjcastro@edificaronline.com
Together with Román Salazar, Juan José Castro is one of the founding partners and director of Edificar since its creation. He has successfully managed the company's strategic planning and marketing. He has also promoted the international expansion of the company since 1984, which has led to highly important business relationships for Edificar. Juan José has a degree in Civil Engineering from the Universidad de Costa Rica and an MBA from Florida National University.
laraya@edificaronline.com
Luis Araya joined Edificar in 1993, he has held the position of Director of Technical Services since then. During his career, he has worked with the Institute Costarricense de Electricidad and with the Refinería Costarricense de Petróleo in Project Management positions. Luis has a degree in Mechanical Engineering and Electrical Engineering from the Universidad de Costa Rica. He also has a Master´s degree in Business Administration from Florida National University.
mcastro@edificaronline.com
Mauricio Castro joined Edificar in 1998, moment from which he has held the position of administrative director from where he directly supervises the Human Resources, Procurement and Administration departments. During his career, he has worked in administrative positions at the Refinería Costarricense de Petróleo (RECOPE) and at UNISYS in Central America. Mauricio is a graduate of Mechanical Engineering from the Universidad de Costa Rica, and he also has a Master's in Business Administration from Florida National University.
dpardo@edificaronline.com
David Pardo has been part of the company since 2007 and he currently holds the position of general manager of Edificar in addition to being the country director for Panamá. Previously, David held the positions of Project Engineer and Planning and Budget Manager. In his current position, he is responsible for the Edificar operation in Costa Rica and Panamá, directly serving the commercial and administrative areas. David has a Bachelor's degree in Civil Engineering from the Universidad de Costa Rica, as well as a Master's degree in Administration and Construction Engineering from the Universidad de Costa Rica and a Master's degree in Business Administration from the Universidad de Chile.
rbadilla@edificaronline.com
Raúl Badilla joined Edificar in 2005, holding the positions of project engineer, project manager and Planning and Budget manager. He is currently responsible for the construction area and supervises all projects with the help of regional project managers. Raúl has a degree in Civil Engineering and a master's degree in Administration and Construction Engineering, both from the Universidad de Costa Rica.
ccascante@edificaronline.com
Carolina Cascante started at Edificar in 2002 as manager of the Quality Management System Unit. Under her direction, Edificar achieved the certification under the ISO 9001 standard in September 2005 and under the OHSAS 18001-07 standard in November 2006. She also led the implementation of the Lean Construction continuous improvement system. Currently, she is responsible of for managing the Department of Occupational Safety and Environment. Carolina has a degree in Civil Engineering from the Universidad de Costa Rica.
racuna@edificaronline.com
Robert Acuña joined Edificar in 2005 and he has served as Chief Financial Officer since 2007. Previously, he served as Chief Accountant. From his current position, he coordinates the Accounting and Treasury area, as well as all negotiations with financial institutions. Robert has a degree in accounting and a master's degree in Business Administration with a financial emphasis from the Universidad Interamericana.
mcordoba@edificaronline.com
Martha L. Córdoba started working at Edificar in January 2011. She is in charge of the administrative area of the company in Panamá. Martha is a civil engineer from the Pontificia Universidad Javeriana de Colombia, has a master's degree in Business Administration from the Universidad de Valle in Panamá and a specialty in Finance from the Universidad Santa María La Antigua in Panamá.
lmora@edificaronline.com
Larry Mora joined Edificar in 2006. He has worked as Project Manager, and between 2015 and 2018 he collaborated with the operation in Panama as Project Director. Larry is responsible for the execution of construction projects, he ensures the scope in drawings and specifications are met, maintaining high quality standards within the projects’ agreed deadline and budget. Larry has a degree in Civil Engineering from the University of Costa Rica and a master’s degree in Business Administration from the same university.
lmontero@edificaronline.com
Luis Montero joined Edificar in 2018, as Director of Special Projects. He worked for 36 years in the tourist activities sector and was once a client of Edificar. Luis is an Industrial Production Engineer from the Technological Institute of Costa Rica and has a master degree in Business Administration with emphasis in Marketing from the National University of San Diego, California.
lwong@edificaronline.com
Lourdes Wong joined the Edificar team in 2021, holding the position of Director of Construction for Panamá where she is in charge of the development of construction projects. She has more than 20 years of experience in this type of work. Lourdes is a civil engineer graduated from the Universidad Católica Santa María La Antigua in Panamá and has a master’s degree in Business Administration from the Pontificia Universidad Católica de Chile.
jbalza@edificaronline.com
Javier Balza joined Edificar in 2015. He has extensive experience in estimating, planning and project management. He started in the company as budget manager and he is currently the director of Pre-construction and Contracting. Javier has a degree in Civil Engineering from the Universidad de Carabobo and a master's degree in Project Management from the Universidad Interamericana de Panamá.
Our latest news
Procore publishes success story in Latin America and is from Edificar
Recognition Event Abbott B45
#EdificarSA in charge of the great remodeling of the Four Seasons Resort Costa Rica hotel, in Peninsula Papagayo
