London-based designer and architect Mooka Srisurayotin has developed a bio-alternative material to traditional concrete using crushed oyster shells to replace limestone, a key ingredient in cement. Her goal is to one day use Oyster[Crete] in large scale building materials.

London

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London-based designer and architect Mooka Srisurayotin has developed a bio-alternative material to traditional concrete using crushed oyster shells to replace limestone, a key ingredient in cement. Oyster[Crete], as it is known, aims to be utilized in large-scale building materials eventually.

Srisurayotin began Oyster[Crete] as a research project while investigating alternative building materials. Inspired by the large quantities of oyster shells discarded by restaurants—up to 5,000 shells a day—she saw their potential due to their chemical similarity to limestone. 

The process of creating Oyster[Crete] involves collecting discarded oyster shells from restaurants in East London and combining them with sand and clay to form a natural composition. The mixture contains 80% oyster shells.

Traditional cement production is responsible for at least 6% of global CO2 emissions. By using oyster shells, Srisurayotin's Oyster[Crete] addresses carbon dioxide emissions from not only the coal used to heat kilns but also during the conversion of limestone into clinker. 

One of the initial products made from Oyster[Crete] is an oyster tray, designed to be used in restaurants to serve oysters, closing the loop in a circular process. Although currently focusing on small objects, Srisurayotin aims to expand the use of Oyster[Crete] to larger construction applications in the future.



Transforming oyster shells into a bio-alternative concrete

Could the humble oyster help the construction industry reduce its carbon footprint? London-based architect and designer Muka Sisirjaotin may have an answer with a new sustainable building material she developed, Oystercrete. Oystercrete is a bioalternative material to traditional concrete using discarded oyster shells. Our goal is to eventually use this sustainable material in large-scale building applications. Oystercrete began as a research project for Sisirjaotin, who was investigating alternative building materials. She was inspired by oyster shells, after seeing how many are discarded by restaurants. They went through like 5,000 shells a day. So we sort of took that shells and like saw the potential in the shells and it has the same chemical composition as limestone. Sisirjaotin is also the founder of interdisciplinary design studio Matterforms. It's here where she transforms oyster shells after collecting them from restaurants in East London. And then we would combine them into an oystercrete mix and all the composition within this material is all natural and the key ingredients, 80% oyster shells. We also use sand and clay, but it's very small quantity. It's an eco-friendly alternative to cement, which is responsible for at least 6% of global CO2 emissions. Sisirjaotin generates huge volumes of carbon dioxide, not only from the coal used to heat kilns, but also during the conversion of limestone into clinker, a key part of the production process. This oyster tray is one of the products Sisirjaotin has created with oystercrete. We designed this tray so then it can go back into the restaurants and they can serve oyster on a tray. So it's like a fully circular process. So these are sort of our beginning point. She says she's currently focusing on small objects, but eventually wants to use oystercrete for large-scale applications.

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