The name actually has a certain assonance with the better known Ikea, but Aldo Franchelli, managing director of Oikìa, a Turin-based real estate construction company founded in 2010, points out that the type of convenience is different: “We also import wood from a Swedish company, which produces it in Austria, but our business is class A certified, i.e. very high quality standard and energy efficiency”.
The one used by the Piedmontese company is therefore a top quality wood, among the first in Italy to use the technology of X-LAM panels (i.e. cross-layered slats) for multi-apartment homes and not just single-family houses. But that doesn't make them more expensive than traditional concrete and brick constructions, on the contrary. “Thanks to the collaboration with the Turin Polytechnic and a study that lasted for 3 years – explains Franchelli – we have studied every detail to make our technology more convenient, even with the use of top quality wood. In fact, in Europe there are only three companies that produce materials with that technology (all from Northern Europe, ed): we went looking for the best”.
Oikìa estimates that thanks to the X-LAM panels it is possible to save up to 20% compared to traditional systems. “And I would like to clarify – Franchelli points out – that we are not dealing with prefabricated buildings, excluding the basic structure, but with custom-designed and manufactured buildings, in agreement with the customer”. Customers who, and this is the real revolution, will be more and more, up to twenty families per house, e they will be able to save up to 60% each year on heating and hot water costs thanks to energy efficiency and thermal insulation of Oikìa products, while purchasing them at absolutely market prices.
“We realized that this technology easily holds up to 10 floors. In Milan, for example, there is an 8-storey building under construction, while in Caorle a hotel is being built with X-LAM and has recently added another 4 floors to the 5 initially built”. Oikia for his part will debut on the market in spring, with a 2-storey building and 6 apartments in the center of Giaveno, a residential area on the outskirts of Turin. Three of these apartments have already been sold, and according to Franchelli, the real surprise is that two out of three have been bought by retired couples: “A sign that even the older generations are increasingly sensitive to issues of sustainability and energy saving. I have to admit that we didn't expect it."
But above all, why – whether old or young – should customers choose Oikìa? Franchelli's answer is simple and leaves no room for misunderstandings: “Because it is a class A product but at the same time accessible at an average market price, and for the savings on energy costs”. In fact, the apartments in the Giaveno building are sold for 2.500 euros per sq m (there are three formats available: 60, 75 or 90 sq m) and are powered by a single boiler adjustable from 5 to 25 kw (the one usually used for a single apartment) and which supplies heating and hot water to 6 homes. “Families will spend 250, at most 300 euros a year on heating,” Franchelli swears.
Starting from Trentino-Alto Adige, which is the pilot region in Italy, this type of technology is therefore starting to take hold throughout the North, from Piedmont to Veneto. It is made of wood, is comfortable and consumes little. And it doesn't cost too much either: yes, it's the house of the future.
