Outside Paris, Holcim, a Swiss-based provider of innovative and sustainable building solutions, and Seqens, a social housing provider in France, are partnering to build Recygénie—a 220-unit housing complex, including 70 social housing units. Holcim is calling the project the world’s first fully recycled concrete building.
To build Recygénie, Holcim will use a concrete it has developed in which all components—cement, aggregates, and water—are made of recycled materials. The organization says its recycled cement has saved about 3,000 tons of natural resources that would have been extracted from quarries. Holcim’s concrete—made with recycled aggregates from construction and demolition waste, recycled wastewater, and rainwater—has saved more than 6,000 tons of natural resources.
“We need to shift gears: from a linear take-make-waste economy to a circular one, to improve living standards for all, while staying within our planet’s limits,” Edelio Bermejo, Holcim’s head of global R&D, said in a statement.
The Recygénie project is part of a renewal program launched by the City of Gennevilliers, located in the northwest suburbs of Paris. The project will offer new and diversified housing—including both social and private housing—as part of a redevelopment of the entire district.
After creating cement with 20% recycled construction and demolition waste in Switzerland, Holcim has been working to scale the solution across Europe. Holcim says it aims to use fully recycled concrete across all its markets, adapting the solution to local building norms and material availability. In 2022, Holcim recycled 34 million tons of materials, 7 million tons of which were construction and demolition waste—turning these materials into new building solutions and alternative fuels.
Construction of Recygénie is underway, with completion expected by the end of 2024.
On the Building Team:
Architect: A26 BLM
Owner and developer: Seqens
Engineer: Ingea
Control bureau: Qualiconsult
General contractor: Legendre
Related Stories
Great Solutions | Jan 20, 2016
Digitally fabricated concrete formwork pushes the limits of what can be cost-effectively constructed in concrete
Simpson Gumpertz & Heger and CW Keller use 3D modeling and CNC machining to advance concrete construction.
Great Solutions | Jan 20, 2016
Sasaki Associates develops simple yet novel solution for precast concrete complication
Its double-angle cladding anchor maintains the air/water/vapor barrier integrity and continuous insulation while still allowing for the desired versatility of precast panels.
Great Solutions | Jan 19, 2016
Concrete innovation: voided biaxial slab slashes weight, saves concrete
System reduces slab dead load by 30% on medical clinic project
Sponsored | Flooring | May 18, 2015
Suburban L.A. high school battles moisture-soaked flooring
School officials had to take action when popped flooring created trip hazards
| Nov 7, 2014
Prefab helps Valparaiso student residence project meet an ambitious deadline
Few colleges or universities have embraced prefabrication more wholeheartedly than Valparaiso (Ind.) University. The Lutheran-based institution completed a $27 million residence hall this past summer in which the structural elements were all precast.
| Sep 30, 2014
Breakthrough concrete mix could reduce carbon emissions by 60%
Scientists at MIT have found a way to decrease the carbon emissions that result from concrete production: reducing the ratio of calcium to the silicate-rich clay.
| Aug 5, 2014
New bomb-proof concrete mixture used in One World Trade Center
The new concrete mix deforms instead of breaking, removing the threat of flying debris in an explosive attack.
| Jul 11, 2014
Are these LEGO-like blocks the future of construction?
Kite Bricks proposes a more efficient way of building with its newly developed Smart Bricks system.
| Jun 12, 2014
Austrian university develops 'inflatable' concrete dome method
Constructing a concrete dome is a costly process, but this may change soon. A team from the Vienna University of Technology has developed a method that allows concrete domes to form with the use of air and steel cables instead of expensive, timber supporting structures.
| May 15, 2014
'Virtually indestructible': Utah architect applies thin-shell dome concept for safer schools
At $94 a square foot and "virtually indestructible," some school districts in Utah are opting to build concrete dome schools in lieu of traditional structures.
