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
MFPRO+ News | May 10, 2024
HUD strengthens flood protection rules for new and rebuilt residential buildings
The U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) issued more stringent flood protection requirements for new and rebuilt homes that are developed with, or financed with, federal funds. The rule strengthens standards by increasing elevations and flood-proofing requirements of new properties in areas at risk of flooding.
Adaptive Reuse | May 9, 2024
Hotels now account for over one-third of adaptive reuse projects
For the first time ever, hotel to apartment conversion projects have overtaken office-to-residential conversions.
Mass Timber | May 8, 2024
Portland's Timberview VIII mass timber multifamily development will offer more than 100 affordable units
An eight-story, 72,000-sf mass timber apartment building in Portland, Ore., topped out this winter and will soon offer over 100 affordable units. The structure is the tallest affordable housing mass timber building and the first Type IV-C affordable housing building in the city.
MFPRO+ News | May 1, 2024
On the Domino Sugar refinery site, new Brooklyn condominiums offer views of the Manhattan skyline
In Brooklyn, New York’s Williamsburg neighborhood, the new One Domino Square is the first condominium development and the third ground-up residential building on the site of the Domino Sugar refinery. The 700,000-sf project is adjacent to Domino Square and anchors a new 11-acre public park.
MFPRO+ News | Apr 29, 2024
World’s largest 3D printer could create entire neighborhoods
The University of Maine recently unveiled the world’s largest 3D printer said to be able to create entire neighborhoods. The machine is four times larger than a preceding model that was first tested in 2019. The older model was used to create a 600 sf single-family home made of recyclable wood fiber and bio-resin materials.
Senior Living Design | Apr 24, 2024
Nation's largest Passive House senior living facility completed in Portland, Ore.
Construction of Parkview, a high-rise expansion of a Continuing Care Retirement Community (CCRC) in Portland, Ore., completed recently. The senior living facility is touted as the largest Passive House structure on the West Coast, and the largest Passive House senior living building in the country.
ProConnect Events | Apr 23, 2024
5 more ProConnect events scheduled for 2024, including all-new 'AEC Giants'
SGC Horizon present 7 ProConnect events in 2024.
Mixed-Use | Apr 23, 2024
A sports entertainment district is approved for downtown Orlando
This $500 million mixed-use development will take up nearly nine blocks.
Resiliency | Apr 22, 2024
Controversy erupts in Florida over how homes are being rebuilt after Hurricane Ian
The Federal Emergency Management Agency recently sent a letter to officials in Lee County, Florida alleging that hundreds of homes were rebuilt in violation of the agency’s rules following Hurricane Ian. The letter provoked a sharp backlash as homeowners struggle to rebuild following the devastating 2022 storm that destroyed a large swath of the county.
Student Housing | Apr 19, 2024
$115 million Cal State Long Beach student housing project will add 424 beds
A new $115 million project recently broke ground at California State University, Long Beach (CSULB) that will add housing for 424 students at below-market rates. The 108,000 sf La Playa Residence Hall, funded by the State of California’s Higher Education Student Housing Grant Program, will consist of three five-story structures connected by bridges.