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The largest half-timbered construction in Brazil this century is being erected in Guabiruba Municipal Park, in the Itajaí Valley, Santa Catarina, using only wood joints without any nails or screws. It spans 270 square meters across two floors, made with noble wood, and will house the headquarters of the Pelznickel Society, the iconic Forest Santa Claus.
According to NSC, half-timbered construction is a technique dating back to medieval Europe that became a symbol of German colonization in southern Brazil. In Guabiruba, a city in the Itajaí Valley, Santa Catarina, the largest work in this style built in the country this century is taking shape in the Municipal Park, with a structure entirely erected from wood joints, without using a single nail or screw in the entire structural assembly. The project bears the signature of master craftsman Paulo Volles, from Blumenau, who has been working with houses in the traditional German style for almost two decades.
The building will have 270 square meters distributed over two floors and will be the headquarters of the Pelznickel Society, an entity that keeps alive the tradition of the Forest Santa Claus, a Christmas character of German origin that attracts visitors to Guabiruba every December. The work began last month, and photos of the assembly already allow visualizing the dimension of the structure, which uses noble woods such as cambará, massaranduba, catuaba, and itaúba. The forecast is that everything will be completed by the end of the year.
A puzzle of pieces weighing up to 300 kilos
One of the most impressive characteristics of the half-timbered technique is that the construction functions like a prefabricated house. All pieces are produced in the carpentry shop, fitted together for testing, then disassembled and numbered one by one to facilitate final assembly on site. The president of the Pelznickel Society, Vandrigo Kohler, describes the process as a large puzzle that required four months of prior work in the workshop before assembly began in the park.
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The weight of the pieces gives an idea of the challenge involved in half-timbered construction. A single noble wood beam can weigh up to 300 kilos, and all handling is done manually. There are no cranes positioning metal structures or concrete mixer trucks pouring concrete. The strength and precision of the professionals working on the project are the same as those required of European builders who erected half-timbered houses centuries ago, with the difference that the woods used in Guabiruba are Brazilian species selected for their durability and resistance.
The technique that dispenses with nails and supports entire floors
The structural principle of half-timbered construction is joining. Each piece of wood is cut with rebates, joints, and carvings that connect to neighboring pieces, forming a rigid framework that supports walls, floors, and roofs without relying on metallic fastening elements. It is an engineering that seems simple when described, but it requires deep knowledge of the properties of each type of wood and millimeter precision in cutting, as any measurement error compromises the stability of the entire structure.
In the Guabiruba project, the choice of noble woods is not just aesthetic. Cambará, massaranduba, catuaba, and itaúba are species known for their high density and resistance to weathering and insects, essential characteristics for a construction that will be exposed to the subtropical climate of the Itajaí Valley. The durability of these woods can exceed decades without the need for aggressive chemical treatment, meaning that the headquarters of the Pelznickel Society was designed to withstand time with the same solidity as the centuries-old half-timbered houses that still exist in Germany.
Paulo Volles: the master craftsman behind the work
The half-timbered construction in Guabiruba bears the signature of Paulo Volles, a master craftsman based in Blumenau who has dedicated almost two decades to mastering this construction technique. In a country where civil construction is largely dominated by reinforced concrete and masonry, professionals specialized in half-timbering are rare, and the knowledge required to execute a work of this magnitude is transmitted more through practice and mentorship than through formal engineering or architecture courses.
Volles’ carpentry work before assembly at the park was as extensive as the on-site construction. The four months of preparation involved cutting, carving, and adjusting each piece, followed by complete assembly in the workshop to verify that all joints worked perfectly. Only after this validation was the structure disassembled, numbered, and transported to Guabiruba, where it is being reassembled like a three-dimensional jigsaw puzzle of noble wood.
The Headquarters of the Forest Santa Claus
The half-timbered construction will not just be an architectural landmark. It will house the Pelznickel Society, an entity responsible for preserving and promoting the tradition of the Forest Santa Claus, a Christmas figure of Germanic origin that radically differs from the image of the conventional Santa Claus. Dressed in rustic attire made of leaves, moss, and elements from the forest, the Pelznickel visits homes in Guabiruba in December and has become the municipality’s main tourist attraction.
The choice of the half-timbered technique for the Society’s headquarters is not random. It reinforces the cultural connection between the Germanic Christmas tradition and the architectural heritage brought by the colonizers who settled in the Itajaí Valley. Vandrigo Kohler, president of the entity, describes the work as something grand, made with care to welcome the public and value the local tradition. The idea is for the construction to function as a cultural reference point throughout the year, not just during the Christmas season.
In the same park, the largest labyrinth in Southern Brazil
Guabiruba Municipal Park, where the half-timbered construction is being erected, already houses another large-scale attraction. The largest labyrinth in Southern Brazil was inaugurated at the end of 2025, the result of a partnership between the Guabiruba city hall and the German city of Karlsdorf-Neuthard. The structure has a diameter of 51.40 meters and is formed by approximately 6,500 Podocarpus trees, reaching heights of up to 1.70 meters.
To traverse the entire labyrinth, visitors need to complete 11 turns and walk almost two kilometers between the green walls. Along the way, 11 informational points present curiosities about the municipality in three languages: Portuguese, English, and German. In the center of the labyrinth, there is a statue of Pelznickel, connecting the attraction to the city’s cultural identity. With the half-timbered construction and the labyrinth in the same park, Guabiruba is assembling a tourist complex that celebrates its Germanic roots in complementary ways.
A construction that looks to the past and builds the future
The largest half-timbered construction in Brazil this century is more than an architectural work. It is proof that a technique with centuries of history can find relevance in the present when there is a will to preserve and investment to execute. The 270 square meters of noble wood fitted without nails or screws in Guabiruba represent a cultural heritage in the making, something that decades from now could have the same historical value as the half-timbered houses tourists visit in the Itajaí Valley today.
Did you know about the half-timbered technique or have you visited a house built in this style? Tell us in the comments if you plan to visit the Guabiruba construction when it’s ready, what you think about building without nails or screws, and if the Pelznickel tradition is already part of your Christmas repertoire. We want to know what you think about the preservation of these Germanic traditions in Santa Catarina.
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