Inside a rural building made from rough bricks with a pitched roof and simple rendered walls.

Lecture Series: Armor Gutierrez

Sugarcrete®, a Global Material for a Global Crisis

27th November 2024

Guest lectures in 2024-5 will take place every other Wednesday in the Reilly Room, starting at 1pm and finishing by 3pm. 

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Armor will discuss his pioneering work with colleagues and students at UEL developing ‘Sugarcrete®’ as a low-carbon alternative to bricks and concrete blockwork. Developed with the support of Tate & Lyle Sugars in London and Chemical Systems Technologies in India, the aim of the project is to develop ultra-low carbon building components using sugarcane bio-waste (bagasse), allowing the storage of biogenic carbon from fast-growing plants in construction materials as an effective strategy to delay carbon emissions. Sugarcane is the world's largest crop by production volume; the processing of sugarcane to produce sugar generates enough raw material to partially replace high energy-demanding construction systems such as concrete or brick.  

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Biography

Armor Gutierrez is a Senior Lecturer in the School of Architecture, Computing and Engineering, University of East London. As an architect, researcher and maker, Armor is interested in how innovation through sustainability can have a positive impact in our built environment. Prior to joining the University of East London as a Senior Lecturer, he gained extensive professional experience working for some of the world's most distinguished architecture firms such as Bjarke Ingels Group in Copenhagen, MVRDV in Rotterdam, and KPF in London, where he attained the level of Associate Principle. 

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