The construction of a conventional brick house can take months and the whole process can be labour and time intensive, particularly when it comes to bricklaying. But building houses has just got simpler – there’s a new brick on the block.
The brainchild of French startup Catharhome, Brikawood is basically like giant wooden Lego. Think back to happy childhood memories of hours spent creating clever constructions using the world’s most iconic plaything and you won’t be far off the actual process of building a Brikawood home.
Made from sustainably sourced Douglas fir, Brikawood ‘bricks’ are “100% recyclable” and designed to interlock without the need for nails, concrete, cladding or glue.
Brikawood homes are designed to consume far less energy than conventional constructions. Picture: brikawood-ecologie.fr
According to the company, building a Brikawood home is like “an intuitive and logical game”. Slot the bricks together, tighten it all up with a rubber mallet and job done, apparently.
The Brikawood bricks are made of four wooden elements that connect to create a mechanically rigid structure, according to the company’s website.
“We do not use wood in the traditional manner. We use it by looking for industrialisable elements which shape the wood not as the carpenters did in the old days, but thanks to the tools of today,” the company add.
Ever wanted to build your own home? It just got a lot easier… Picture: brikawood-ecologie.fr
In other words, we think this means Brikawood is so easy to use, anyone can pretty much get their heads around it.
In terms of bang for your buck, a single kit designed to create a 200sqf solid wooden structure costs €25,000 ($33,825).
Compare this to the $102,000 an equivalent-sized property built solely with standard bricks will set you back, and it’s easy to see the financial benefits of building with Brikawood.
Simple, sturdy and sustainable, a completed Brikawood house. Picture: brikawood-ecologie.fr
Fulfilling the specification of an eco-friendly ‘passive house’, Brikawood designs are also ultra-low energy buildings that require minimum heating or cooling. In fact, tests have shown that the assembled Brikawood ‘bricks’ leak minimal air and help maintain a constant inside temperature of at least 19-21 degrees, which is in accordance with passive housing standards.
Passive homes built with Brikawood wooden bricks consume 90% less energy for heating than an existing construction, according to the company.
“Brikawood is a great product because it brings another dynamic to an ever-changing industry,” says David Maiolo, Director of RODA, a Melbourne-based building company.
“It also slashes the time a construction takes and is quick, affordable, lightweight and easy to install.”
That it is made of timber, however, is something of a double-edged sword for Maiolo.
“Considering 40% of landfill is made up of building material, having another recyclable material in the market is good from an environmental point of view,” he says.
“The main downside is that as it’s a timber product it will need to be constantly maintained.
So in a nutshell, Brikawood offers a different approach to building a simple, durable, economical and energy-saving home – just don’t forget your mallet.
