Why earth is the ultimate circular material

Episode 52. AJ Climate Champions with Hattie Hartman and Joe Jack Williams. 

To achieve replication at scale, Nicolas Coeckelberghs of Brussels-based BC Materials favours compressed earth blocks over rammed earth.

‘Our goal is to bring earthen construction from a niche to a growing market,’ says  Coeckelberghs. He likens this challenge to playing chess on multiple fronts, creating demand while simultaneously supplying the market. While acknowledging the aesthetic appeal of rammed earth,  Coeckelberghs cautions that it is technically complex and unaffordable at scale.

In this episode, Coeckelberghs describes BC Architects’ 15-year trajectory from its first earth building in Burundi, to the proliferation of collaborative workshops which led to a strand of consultancy work, to the creation of cooperative BC Materials in 2018. This led in turn to the recent launch of Léém, a manufacturing company that produces circular materials: unfired bricks, and clay plasters and paints.

While  Coeckelberghs is an innovator, he is also pragmatic and advocates focusing on easy wins. ‘Don’t use earth to make facades, just use it to make structures inside,’ he says. He sees enormous scope for application of earth blocks internally where they are protected from the weather and hence more durable.

In search of a way to scale the earth blocks production, BC Materials visited concrete and brick manufacturers across Belgium to understand their manufacturing techniques and explore possibilities for collaboration. Partnerships with large manufacturers are now underway, and BC Materials produces its blocks through  ‘industrial co-working’,  using the larger plants’ production line during their ‘off’ hours.

For show notes and to catch up on all AJ Climate Champions episodes, click here.