Society demands friendlier environments in which to live – Sustainable Timber
The year 2022 confirmed that sustainable architecture is what society is currently demanding. We see it with the end of the pandemic and the return to a new normality, a time when “people started to care more about the quality of materials, about comfort in indoor spaces and about having outdoor areas to live in,” says Stefano Carlo Ascione, director of marketing and communication at ARQUIMA.
In 2021 this was the dynamic in the market, which has continued in 2022, a year in which ARQUIMA has seen an increase in requests for quotations and in the start-up of new projects. The Barcelona-based company will open a new factory in Abrera this year. “We are going to have the capacity to make around 150 houses a year -says Ascione-, “significantly improving our productivity”.
Everyone nowadays recognises the importance of energy efficiency in housing, due to the rising price of gas or electricity. But also, in the wake of all that has happened, people’s health is even more important. “During the pandemic we had to spend many, many hours indoors, hence the importance of living in spaces that are healthy, with breathable, natural, non-toxic materials”.
For ARQUIMA, sustainability is not only energy efficiency, it is something deeper. It is quality in materials, comfort and health for the people who live in their homes. “What we eat is important, but what we breathe is just as important,” says the head of communications for the prestigious Catalan firm.
Is the price premium for passive, sustainable and healthy construction affordable?
Depending on the area of the peninsula and the islands, the price of an ARQUIMA house can vary considerably. In any case, “it is a somewhat high investment at the beginning, but if we think about the useful life of the building, savings of 70-80% on the energy bill can be achieved“, explains Stefano Carlo Ascione.
This year the European Union will announce a new regulation that will prohibit certain properties from being rented or sold based on their energy certificate. The housing stock in Spain has up to 80% of buildings with very low energy certification, so a drastic change in the housing market is expected in the short term. People will be forced to think about energy efficient housing.
“The mentality is evolving that things have to be done differently and although it is also difficult for the Administration to make progress, if we really want to change and improve, we have to start doing it now,” insists the company’s marketing manager. ARQUIMA is a pioneering company and a leader in the industrialised housing construction sector; a spearhead for bringing about this change in the world of building”.
Will ARQUIMA with its new factory continue to lead the market?
Without neglecting design. ARQUIMA’s construction system is industrialised and serialised, but also customisable. In their new factory they have adopted a flexible manufacturing system. The envelope, the key to the efficiency of the construction, is industrialised, always the same, but on the outside the building is fully customisable, as the client wishes. There are no limits.
More years in the market does not mean wear and tear or being more tired than the others, but rather that, on the contrary, you have had more time to perfect the system, and that is why “we are still the best, because we have also had more time to evaluate and improve the work we have done. We have a lot of experience; the mistakes that new companies can make, we have already corrected them“.
The new factory will give ARQUIMA capacity and flexibility in its production, with the aim of bringing its homes to a greater number and diversity of customers. “That’s where the change lies, in that people get used to this type of housing, that they enjoy living in a home like this, and that through word of mouth they can say that they have made a good decision, choosing our construction model”, concludes Stefano Carlo Ascione.
ARQUIMA works with private clients, the occasional administration, and now also with nationally renowned developers, who have embarked on a new path with us.
The market is at a turning point and change has only just begun.
Article published in Madera Sostenible 9 January 2023