Inspired by his childhood growing up in traditional clay-brick and cement houses in Togo in West Africa, Dr. Gnanli Landrou has developed a disruptive alternative to traditional cement, through an innovative process of transforming demolition waste into a binder material. The solution can help to lower CO2 emissions by up to 90% in the construction industry, if compared with the traditional cement-making process for concrete production.
The project, Oxara, was co-founded by Dr. Landrou and Dr. Thibault Demoulin, during their PhDs at ETH Zürich university.
As a participant in the 2024 Dubai Future Solutions – Prototypes for Humanity venture building programme, Oxara engaged with a wide range of local industry leaders across real estate developers, concrete manufacturers, recycling companies, city planners and regulatory authorities to structure and implement a technical pilot in the city. In November, in collaboration with Emirati architect Abdalla Almulla (MULA Studio) and Ready Mix Beton, a regional leader in high-performing concrete-production, the team concluded its first pilot, the STOOT pavilion, a structure demonstrating the material’s performance to key stakeholders of the construction industry. The team is now working towards wider commercial projects and growth avenues for 2025.
Oxara aims to cut 1.2 billion tons of CO2 and reuse 1 billion tons of waste globally, while enabling the construction of affordable housing.
The Venture Building Programme
Dubai Future Solutions – Prototypes for Humanity provides a platform for teams aiming to transform their research into ventures. The programme leverages strategic partnerships with leading private and public entities, offering funding and piloting opportunities to enable technical and commercial validation in real-world environments. Selected projects embark on a venture-building journey with industry, investment, and startup experts, working to bring their solutions to market from Dubai.
All applicants to Prototypes for Humanity are eligible to enter the venture building programme, for which the initial step is our annual open call for applications. Learn more