Seaweed House

Bringing together design, polymer chemistry and algal biotechnology to decarbonise the construction industry and change the way we build.​

The building industry exacts a devastating toll on the environment, producing almost half the world’s total energy consumption and 40 per cent of global carbon emissions. ​

What if we could build our cities and our homes from materials that are grown instead of mined? What if we could do this with products that are designed to sink and store atmospheric carbon in the process? 

Researchers at the University of Technology Sydney have produced a suite of carbon negative construction materials from seaweeds and algal biomass. These materials represent an exciting opportunity to shift the construction sector away from fossil fuel-derived building products towards bio-based alternatives.​

Committed to circular economy principles this research utilises residual waste from industrial algae and seaweed farming, ensuring our raw material is part of a sustainable biorefinery framework. As well as reducing the carbon impacts of traditional building materials, such as steel, glass and bricks, our biomaterials offer added value in terms valorising organic waste.​

Algae are one of the world’s most significant carbon sinks, responsible for sequestering up to 50 per cent of planetary carbon. By locking this collected carbon inside their structures, algae-based biomaterials can create a long-term carbon storage solution within the built environment.​

    • UTS Climate Change Cluster

    • UTS Material Ecologies Design Lab

  • 1-4. Project development and materials research, algal biomass testing (2022). Photos: Silversalt and Kate Scardifield.

    5. Project development and lab research (2021), UTS Climate Change Cluster. Photo: Kate Scardifield.

    6. Project development and field research, algae cultivation ponds (2024). Photo: Nahum McLean.

    7. Project development and materials research, algal biomass. Photo: Silversalt and Kate Scardifield (2022).

    8. Project development and field research, algae cultivation ponds (2023), Photo: Kate Scardifield.

    9. Project development and materials research, algal biomass (2022). Photo: Silversalt and Kate Scardifield.

    10. Project development and materials testing (2022). Photo: Kate Scardifield.

    11. Project development and materials testing (2022). Photo: Nahum McLean.

    12-14. Project development and materials research, algal biomass (2022). Photos: Silversalt and Kate Scardifield.

    15. Project development and materials research, UTS Climate Change Cluster (2022). Photo: Kate Scardifield.

    16. Project development and materials testing, algal biomass (2022). Photo: Silversalt and Kate Scardifield.

    17. Project development and materials testing, algal biomass (2024). Photo: Evelyn Darke.