All Quonset hut models surrounding a Q-Model Quonset hut

Meet the Team

Alex Silva photo
Team /

Alex Silva

Project Manager

Years at SteelMaster: 14 years

Specialty: Residential and Industrial building applications

Alex Silva has worked in SteelMaster’s Latin America division for over a decade and is an expert in arch-style structures.

Additionally, Alex has won SteelMaster’s Latin Division Salesperson of the Year award for several consecutive years.

Alex has experience in serving many different industries across Latin America, which is one of his favorite parts of his job.

“I like that we have the ability to get involved with projects in many different industries, from agricultural, to cultural, to mining, to houses. Plus, communicating with people from different countries, even though we speak the same language, there are different traditions so that is what I enjoy the most.”


Notable Projects

Jose B. – Monterrey, Mexico

Jose B. – Monterrey, Mexico

Jose B. is an architect who has often worked with SteelMaster to design buildings that fit the requirements of his clients. “He has done 12 or 13 projects with us, including some roofing projects,” Alex said. “When he works with a customer where we could be an option, he contacts me.”

Alex says working with an architect is different because there are more technical terms and work involved. However, he has developed a strong working relationship with Jose over the years.

“We provided the exterior shell of the building and the customer was very pleased with this structure,” Alex said. “They were thinking about doing another project like that in Guadalajara.”

 


 

Juan Q. – Puerto Rico

Juan Q. – Puerto Rico

“It all started because we were looking for a carport or a roof to protect the bus that we use in the Church,” says Juan Q, Pastor of the Christian Community Center in Corozal. “It was talking to [Alex], who gave me the idea to build the temple with the SteelMaster structures,” he added.

This structure is located in the Mavilla neighborhood in the town of Corozal, Puerto Rico. Although it is located in the mountainous part of Puerto Rico, it was no problem transporting it there.

Construction of the building was also quick. “We assembled the structure without any construction experience, using the most rudimentary tools such as pallets and ropes. On weekends we dedicated ourselves to raising the structure. After a few days, we finished assembling and decorating it, ”Juan said.

Today, Juan gathers approximately 250 people in this structure.

“You just need to have a vision,” Juan said.


 

Carlos U. – Jalisco, Mexico

Carlos U. – Jalisco, Mexico

Carlos, one of SteelMaster’s clients from Mexico, purchased his hangar with his brother for their Zenith 750 aircraft.

“We tried to follow his instructions to the letter”, Carlos said. “If you notice in the photographs, you can see the construction of a traditional building that was more than three weeks ahead of ours, and we finished a week before them.”

Alex says that he’s sold many hangars in Mexico, most of them being recreational buildings for people who fly planes as a hobby.

“The hangars are used more for smaller planes, we have done a few near Monterrey, Mexico. There’s a small airport for recreational flyers that I’ve sold multiple buildings to as well.”

“Our hangar is one of a kind and has continued to be greatly admired.”
Carlos U., Mexico

 

David M. – San Juan, Puerto Rico

David M. – San Juan, Puerto Rico

David M., a pastor in Puerto Rico, came to SteelMaster when he needed a building for his church.

Alex says the church didn’t want to take out a loan or rent a building, so they chose to purchase the church outright from SteelMaster. He says this is something that’s very common in Puerto Rico.

In addition to the cost-effectiveness of the building, David also saw value in the structure’s disaster resistance.

SteelMaster’s prefabricated metal Quonset huts are ideal for Puerto Rico because of their resistance to natural disasters, especially hurricanes.

We design our structures to meet Puerto Rico’s building wind load requirements, which is especially important for hurricane-prone areas which change frequently with the increase of tropical depressions. Our high-grade commercial steel has the best high-speed resistance of any other kind of building.


 

Jose A. – Mexico

Jose A. – Mexico

Jose A. owns a transportation company and uses his large building to store and do maintenance on cars.

“He communicated with us a few times to acquire a unit, he definitely liked it,” Alex said.

While SteelMaster serves both residential and commercial clients in Mexico, businesses usually choose to purchase larger buildings for warehouses and storage.

This is because our buildings do not require beams or trusses for support and the clear span design provides maximum usable space while also keeping equipment and other valuables out of the elements.


 

Jose G. – Carros Antiguos, Puerto Rico

Jose G. – Carros Antiguos, Puerto Rico

Jose’s Volkswagen collection is his most precious treasure, as it symbolizes his effort and passion for cars. This is why he decided to purchase his SteelMaster structure as a place to protect his collection. This garage was one of Alex’s first projects at SteelMaster.

Alex says there are many car enthusiasts in Puerto Rico that choose SteelMaster to protect their collections.

“There’s a lot of love for antique cars and stuff like that over there,” Alex said. “In our department alone, we have done probably over 20 projects for car collectors in Puerto Rico.”

“I am very happy with the service provided by SteelMaster. In addition, the quality of the structure is as described to me by [Alex]. The structure is installed on the main avenue and many people stop asking about the structure and I refer them to you.  It’s very cool! I am happy and satisfied with my purchase.”
Jose G., Puerto Rico

 

Jorge S. – Guaynabo, Puerto Rico

Jorge S. – Guaynabo, Puerto Rico

Iglesia de Restauracion Integral was the first church project that Alex sold during his time at SteelMaster. He was even able to visit the church in 2014. “[Seeing the church in person] was pretty cool. It was very satisfying,” he said.

The church was hit by a branch during Hurricane Maria in 2017 and suffered minor damage but overall weathered the storm just fine.

“One of the panels in the rear endwall was bent but they were able to bring it to a mechanic shop and they were able to hammer them and give it the shape again,” Alex said. “They didn’t have any issues using the church right after Maria.”

Because of its durability and security, the church was able to offer a place to stay for people who lost their homes in the hurricane.


 

Rafael R. – Puerto Rico

Rafael R. – Puerto Rico

Rafael’s building is used as a storage unit for his business. Because Rafael is a contractor, he was able to install the structure himself.

Alex says many people in Puerto Rico are familiar with our structures and the way they are assembled.

“They usually have first-hand experience or second-hand, and they know it’s a much more practical way to construct them,” Alex said.

SteelMaster makes the building process much easier than a traditional building because our arch panels and endwalls are pre-cut and pre-drilled at the factory to their exact specifications.

You can assemble the building yourself, with some friends, or you can hire a local contractor to install the building. Many of our customers opt to assemble and raise the arches themselves to complete their SteelMaster building and are proud of their project completion.


 

Jose L. – Chihuahua, Mexico

Jose L. – Chihuahua, Mexico

Customer Jose L. purchased this building a year and a half ago to be used as a school.

“The school offers one-on-one education, so parents can send their homeschooled students here to learn,” Alex said.

The customer liked the openness of the building and plans to purchase more structures to create additional units for the students.

Luis D. (Americot) – Guaynbo, Puerto Rico

Luis D. (Americot) – Guaynbo, Puerto Rico

United States-based company Americot purchased this building to manufacture cotton in Puerto Rico.

The building is in the south part of Puerto Rico and they have a lot of wind and it’s earthquake-prone.

Our metal Quonset huts can be designed to Seismic Design Category E for areas near a major fault with high seismic vulnerability.

 

Carlos M. – Cancun, Mexico

Carlos M. – Cancun, Mexico

These two buildings are located in a small shopping center, one serves as a cafe while the other is used for an art studio.

The customer got creative with the buildings by covering them with canvas, then painting the canvas with bright colors.

“It turned out really nice, they also did their own front endwalls. The cafe area doesn’t get hot even though it’s in Cancun because of the protective coating.”

Juan R. – Barranquilla, Colombia

Juan R. – Barranquilla, Colombia

Alex originally sold this large warehouse to a customer in Cartagena, Colombia in 2011. The customer never put it together and sold it to Juan R., where he put it up in the industrial park of Barranquilla, Colombia just two hours away.

Alex says Juan was impressed by the size of the building, especially the fact that it was able to be 40 feet tall. These types of models are custom-made buildings.

Ezequiel C. – Lerma, Mexico

Ezequiel C. – Lerma, Mexico

Ezequiel C. sells agricultural products for his local business and designed his own endwalls for the building.

“The customer was very very pleased and his endwall turned out very nice,” Alex said.

Alex says commercial customers typically like to build their own endwalls.

 

Solmar – Cabo San Lucas, Mexico

Solmar – Cabo San Lucas, Mexico

Solmar Hotels and Resorts purchased multiple structures for equipment storage.

Solmar, who owns a lot of land in Mexico, loves their structure so much that they are interested in purchasing additional structures.

Part of this is because the company realized the building’s disaster resistance firsthand.

“In 2011 or 2012, they had a strong hurricane that damaged a lot around the area and nothing happened to their structure, so they trust us,” Alex said.

Gustavo S. – Cabo San Lucas, Mexico

Gustavo S. – Cabo San Lucas, Mexico

Gustavo S. is a repeat SteelMaster customer who has put several structures up for storage purposes.

One of his projects looks like a building but is technically one of our roof systems because it sits on a concrete “stem” wall. Customers who put their buildings on concrete stem walls use SteelMaster’s industrial base connector to secure the building to the wall.

 

 

long s-model quonset hut with steel endwall and steel sliding doors

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